Kirsty Mckenzie
Kids will go back to school full-time next month.
From Andulcia to Valencia, regions across Spain have confirmed the news, ending months of uncertainty for families across the country.
The move means millions of youngsters will go back to the classroom in the coming days for the first time since school were forced to shut five months ago.
This Thursday the Ministry of Education will meet for the first time since June to discuss the next steps that need to be taken to ensure students can return to school safely.
While the central government has issued a series of guidelines, which will be adapted depending on the situation in each of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions.
The announcement comes after it was revealed that children over the age of six were ‘recommended’ to use masks while moving around school.
The Junta’s Ministry of Education and Sport confirmed the news, adding that once seated at their table, if the safety distance is maintained, pupils will not have to use face coverings.
However, a raft of new measures will be introduced to ensure the safety of staff and pupils.
Students will have to maintain a distance of at least 1.5m between themselves, except for younger children, who will instead be allowed to be in bubbles of 15 to 20 pupils who will not have to distance.
Steps will be taken to make sure that children and teachers who are not in the same bubble have minimal contact, with separate starting, finishing, lunch and break times.
Additionally, it means no big group events like school assemblies and arranging classrooms with forward facing desks.
Teachers will be requested to teach various subjects, in order to keep the staff of each ‘bubble’ to a minimum.
Here is the breakdown of everything you need to know for each region:-
Andalusia
Infant and primary pupils will be welcomed back to the classroom from September 10 while ESO, Baccalaureate and FP students will have to wait until September 15 before they can return to the classrooms.
Among other measures, teachers here will be required to take a PCR test each quarter and 300,000 liters of hydroalcoholic gel and three million masks will be distributed to schools across the area.
Balearic Islands
Like most regions, the Balearics are opting for a phased return for their pupils, based on age groups. All pupils from Infant to Baccalaureate will return on September 10 but FP students must wait until September 29. The new academic year will see 458 new teachers in the region, of which 71% will go to public centres.
Valencia
All students will return to the classroom on September 7, with the region investing €207million into hygiene and measures, including the purchase of three million masks and 86,000 litres of gel. In Infant and Primary the class size will be kept below 20 pupils, a limitation that can be extended to the first year of ESO.
Murcia
Murcia plans to introduce children back into the classroom gradually with a blended model of learning. It is a progressive plan that includes divisions based on similar practices in Russian schools where the youngest pupils will attend two days, the rest of the students will come into school the following two days and all pupils will have classes on Friday. Infant and Primary classes are set to start classes on September 7 but the older students will have to wait until September 10 to return to school. The community will also invest €17.7 million in new technology, including 40,000 electronic devices, 17,000 mobile phones and 23,000 computers.
