[News]The Generalitat will avoid penalizing parents who do not want to take their children to school

[SougarLord]

The extraordinary return to school that the Valencian Community will begin on September 7th comes with a multitude of questions still unsolved. Concern spreads among families, as does fear. And the intention of the so-called insubordinate parents not to take their children to the centers due to the fear of contagion of coronavirus is already one of many problems for the Administration. What will the Generalitat do in the event that this occurs extensively and not only in those with risky diseases? The response from sources from the Ministry of Education is clear for the moment: We are not going to penalize them.

 

The pandemic will force in this case, as in many others, improvisation in the way of acting according to the trend. There is no protocol on the current situation and the first objective, they assure from the department headed by Vicent Marzà, will be didactic. We cannot consider starting immediately to sanction families in some way. We are trying to explain that classrooms are a safe place because we have followed all the instructions of the health authorities, they point out.

 

According to the measures transferred by the Ministry, students will have to wear the mask in class from the age of six, an interpersonal distance of at least 1.5 meters must be maintained, the centers must comply with all the hygiene measures and the Generalitat will have the capacity to close entire schools or classrooms.

 

                             

While the Government has already advanced that it will request a report from the General Counsel to know what to do in the event that parents decide not to send their children to class, the Generalitat has not yet ventured to affirm whether it will do the same with the Legal Profession. We suppose that we would have to consult the legal services, but it is not a scenario that is being raised yet. First we will try to make parents understand that students will be in a safe environment, they insist.

 

The only similar action protocol that may exist is truancy. Education is compulsory until ESO, so that the Administration has the capacity to act. Usually, when such a case is detected, there is an intervention by the centers and social services. In extreme situations with chronic absenteeism or students at risk of being unprotected, it is considered a very serious violation of the right to education and is reported to the Juvenile Prosecutor's Office. However, nothing can be compared to the current context.

 

Pending this process of convincing families by the governments with arguments such as the consequences that the fact of not attending class can leave in minors, the only commitment that they will have to acquire in writing will be that of the declaration responsible that the Department is referring to the centers.

 

In it, the legal representatives of each student will have to commit with their signature to comply with the health and hygiene standards that appear in the contingency plan of the respective school and to control the health status of the children so as not to take them if they present symptoms of coronavirus (such as cough, fever or difficulty breathing) and fever of more than 37.5ºC until indicated by the referring doctor.