After over a year of remote teaching and learning, the education system is slowing returning to a state of normalcy
National exams will be held with the physical attendance of pupils as planned, irrespective of the epidemiological evolution, Education Minister Sorin Cîmpeanu, has announced. The Romanian official told a private television station that two exam sessions will be held, both for the national exams as well as for the Romanian Baccalaureate. The national exam session will start on June 22. Pupils who cannot sit the exam will be able to enroll in the second session two weeks later. The first session of the Romanian Baccalaureate will start on June 28, with the second one scheduled in mid-August. Minister Sorin Cîmpeanu expressed optimism over the start of the 2021-2022 school year on September 13 without restrictions. Until then, the Education Ministry encourages the organization of summer camps and the teaching of remedial classes. Meanwhile, only 7% of the total number of pupils in Romania are still attending online classes, after some 100 thousand school and high-school children returned to full physical attendance in schools last week. The decision was taken after the infection rate in all counties across Romania dropped below one per thousand inhabitants. According to official figures, 270 of the total of 2.7 million school children tested positive for COVID-19 last week. Over 55,000 school children aged 16-18 have so far got vaccinated against COVID-19. Sorin Cîmpeanu said one of the benefits of the pandemic was the improvement of the digital skills of pupils and teachers alike and raising awareness about remote teaching, wherever it is suitable. However, the benefits did not outweigh the losses. Sorin Cîmpeanu:
"Apart from education losses, there have been disruptions in terms of social and emotional behavior, anxiety, things that are currently affecting society right now, both in Romania and elsewhere. Of course, although very big, these losses can be made up for in the five weeks of school we have left. We will have to try, and I am confident there are teachers who know they can recover much of the curricula that has been lost during these months. But the process will take several stages".
On their end, teachers represent the biggest social category to have taken the anti-COVID jab. According to official estimates, some 160 thousand teachers got vaccinated so far, and the Education Minister said he is planning vaccination caravans in the coming period, particularly in rural areas, where the immunization rate among teaching staff is still low. (VP)
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