The Education Ministry says NFP Leader Professor Biman Prasad is clearly in election campaign mode and looking at ways to criticise the Government at every opportunity but Professor Prasad is stressing that they are raising issues about the safe reopening of schools because parents are confused, students are worried and teachers are in isolation.
A statement by the Education Ministry says if they had decided to keep schools closed, Professor Prasad would still criticise the Government on that.
It further says that whatever the Government does, Professor Prasad’s resolve is to go against it without any justification or facts.
The Education Ministry says Professor Prasad is trying to divert the attention of the public by making such statements that are not based on facts and scientific data.
In response, Professor Prasad says the Health Ministry and the Education Ministry need to sort out their communication because the Health Ministry seems to be cautious and diplomatic about the situation.
Prasad says parents, school managements and teachers are calling them with their concerns and now the Fiji Teachers Union is saying 500 teachers are in isolation.
He says they know what the science says but the Education Ministry needs to understand that what UNICEF and WHO are saying is based on certain assumptions.
The Education Ministry stresses that they have always taken advice from local and international experts and organisations, which are based on evidence and science.
The Ministry of Education says positive cases seen so far in schools is a reflection of what is happening in the community and it has been made clear that the decision to send children to school rests with parents.
In a statement on the Fijian Government facebook page, the Education Ministry says there are currently COVID-positive cases in the community which naturally means that a few students and teachers will also have COVID-19.
It says at least in the schools, there is a higher degree of control in terms of following COVID-safety protocols.
The Education Ministry says rather than just focusing on schools, we all need to follow and practice stringent COVID-safety protocols in communities.
They say as communities become safer this will be reflected in schools.
The Ministry further adds that in addition, schools are training the children on COVID-safety protocols, so they can practice this at home.
They have developed communication resources that have been widely circulated on COVID safe measures.
The Education Ministry adds this way they are ensuring students will learn to keep themselves safe, both in and out of schools because COVID is not going away anytime soon and we cannot be folding our arms and waiting for things to settle down to reopen schools.
It says while some parents understandably have concerns, there is obviously a larger number who are sending their children to school - as can be seen in the fact that schools have had over 60% attendance on average in the first week.
The Ministry has also made it clear that parents of children with pre-existing conditions must get advice from their doctors.
It says the attendance in the North is low compared to the other Divisions but this is to be expected.
The Ministry says they fully respect the choice that many parents have made to not send their children to school but they have also asked these parents to remain in touch with the school heads for other options of learning such as collecting learning materials for their children.
A number of parents have contacted us and raised concerns about the safety and security of their children as it has also been confirmed by the Ministry of Health that they have received reports of teachers and students testing positive for COVID-19 in schools.
We have been asking the Ministry of Education from last week about how many teachers and students have tested positive for COVID-19 so far and how many positive cases and primary contacts have been isolated.
Fijivillage has asked how the Ministry is implementing COVID safe measures when some classrooms in the country have more than 50 students.
We have also asked what actions can the heads of schools take against those students who are not following all the protocols as there have been reports of students not wearing masks despite being told by the teachers.
Concerns are also being raised that children under the age of 12 years will return to school soon but none of them have been vaccinated and the chances of further transmission is high.
There is also a risk that it will be even harder for teachers to ensure these children follow all the protocols in place.
We sent further questions to the Ministry of Education to clarify the concerns raised by many parents.
They are yet to respond.
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