Brazil has recorded 1,151,479 cases of infection with the novel coronavirus. There have been 52,771 deaths nationwide, including 1,374 in the last 24 hours. Even with these alarming figures, the easing of social distancing measures continues to expand in several states and municipalities. This is fueling expectations that public and private schools may reopen.

Against this backdrop, which poses challenges for school administrators across the country, the education sector is coming together to discuss health and educational protocols for the return to in-person classes. This was the focus of the latest Bett Educar Meeting, for which Educador21 serves as a content partner. The first day of online discussions took place on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 23.

The two-day virtual event—a new round of discussions will take place this Wednesday, the 24th, starting at 3 p.m.—brings together eight experts to address questions about the safety and support measures that will be necessary for the resumption of activities. There’s still time to participate. Register for free by clicking the banner below.

Psychologist and educational consultant Rossandro Klinjey emphasized the importance of this support. Not only to restore the emotional well-being of students, teachers, administrators, parents, and school staff, but also to

"In three months, we're learning what would normally take five years in technology. We have to embrace fear and new technologies. But we shouldn't embrace blame. Each of us is doing the best we can with what we have," he said at the opening of the event.

The National Council of Education Secretaries (Consed) released a guide this week outlining new health and educational procedures, which is available for download. The document was developed in collaboration with 13 education secretaries, representatives from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and UNESCO. It takes three factors into account: infrastructure and resources, continuity of learning, and the ability to analyze the health crisis.

Claudia Costin, director of CEIP-FGV Claudia Costin, director of the Center for Excellence and Innovation in Educational Policy at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (CEIP-FGV) and former Secretary of Education for the City of Rio de Janeiro, criticized the Ministry of Education (MEC) for its lack of leadership in developing strategies to maintain education during the pandemic.

"Brazil was already experiencing a learning crisis before the pandemic. Schools are not prepared to educate everyone. And the pandemic will exacerbate preexisting educational inequality. Just as frontline doctors were not prepared, neither were educators. But carefully planning the return to school—that’s something we have time to do," emphasized the expert and educator, who is also a member of the BETT Global Council.

Claudia Costin further enriched the discussion by providing information on the protocols for resuming in-person classes established by various countries. The former Secretary of Education highlighted the advantages of having older students return first and of implementing a rotation system to increase social distancing in classrooms and during recess.

On the other hand, he condemned the return to schools of children of daycare age—from zero to 3 years old. "Mayors are facing pressure from industry associations to reopen daycare centers in August. But for this age group, that should not happen until 2021."

This Wednesday, June 24, São Paulo State Secretary of Education Rossieli Soares will announce, at a press conference, the plan to resume classes in the state’s school system. This will mean that one-third of São Paulo’s population will return to the streets—taking into account all school systems and educational segments, including students, teachers, and administrative staff.

For this reason, planning is carried out carefully, prioritizing the safety of everyone involved in this process, as noted by Haroldo Corrêa Rocha, Executive Secretary of Education for the State of São Paulo, who participated in the roundtable discussion at the New Bett Educar Online Meeting.

Rocha emphasized that all planning has been structured in partnership with the Department of Health and that, for now, there is no set date for the reopening of public schools in the State of São Paulo. However, he did provide some details about the guidelines currently being developed.

"The goal is to resume activities safely and at the right time. Under current conditions, there is no clear timeline for a return. At best, we can look toward the end of August. Education is the last sector to resume, both because of the number of people out on the streets and the potential for the virus to spread," explained the executive secretary.

Rocha emphasized that the protocols will serve as guidelines for municipal and private school systems. The executive secretary revealed that one of the rules will be to limit classroom capacity to a maximum of 30% of students per classroom. This figure, however, must be determined separately by each municipality, which may adopt more restrictive rules to limit the number of people in circulation.

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Credits:https://www.educador21.com.br/post/empatia-e-seguranca-sao-prioridades-na-volta-as-aulas