Hungarian teacher union calls for downsizing classes

Class sizes should be reduced to a minimum after schools reopen, teachers’ union PSZ said on Monday.

In a statement detailing its demands for how the school year should continue, PSZ told MTI that social distancing should be made mandatory in classrooms and students who stay home should not suffer any negative consequences or setbacks.

Parents who do not feel that it is safe for their children to return to school during the pandemic should have the right until May 10 to decide whether they let their children go to school.

Students who stay home should be given the opportunity to participate in classes online, it said, adding that teachers should not be made to teach in-person classes parallel to online ones on the same day. Classes should be rearranged and temporary schedules should be prepared with a view to avoiding having teachers teach the same class twice, PSZ added.

Also, teachers should be compensated for any overtime work resulting from child supervision duty.

Parents on maternity leave whose children attend kindergarten should be asked to keep their children at home and the rule on mandatory kindergarten attendance should be suspended, PSZ said.

Classes and activities should be held outdoors whenever possible and institutions should get more cleaning staff to ensure continuous disinfection, the statement added.

PSZ also said it believed schools should have remained closed until the daily Covid caseload falls below 1,400.

Hungary’s kindergartens and grades 1-4 of primary schools reopened on Monday, while grades 5-8 and secondary schools will reopen on May 10.

Hungary registered 2,680 new infections on Monday and so far, 3,266,425 people have received their first Covid-19 shot.

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