Primary schools in the Netherlands are allowed to reopen on the 8th of February. Under certain conditions. Secondary schools will continue teaching online until at least the 1st of March. According to the Outbreak Management Team (OMT), reopening Dutch primary schools and creches is a risk that will certainly lead to more COVID-19 infections and hospitalisations. But the healthcare system can cope, they say.
Needless to say, there are mixed feelings all round.
Second Lockdown
The Netherlands has been in a second national lockdown since 15 December. All schools and and child care facilities closed a day later and lessons moved online. Online learning has impacted some children more than others. Some parents have found it tough going too. Particularly those receiving no leniency from their employers.
Personal Experience
This lockdown around the boys’ primary school was better prepared. They clearly had a plan, just in case the not so unthinkable happened.
Mr 10 is more than happy to do his school work from home, enjoying working in a quiet environment. He’s able to work a lot quicker.
Mr 9 however, misses the social buzz of working in a classroom and is easily distracted having to work alone. It means he’s needed a lot of supervision. From me.
All in all, however, they are doing just fine. As is their older brother, who is 14 and in secondary school. His class has formed little study groups and they are constantly online together to do the work set for them. He misses going into school, and hates that he is missing out on doing practical physics experiments, but this lockdown period is certainly going better than the first one.
I know that other parents have had other experiences. These are difficult circumstances.
Reopening Dutch Primary Schools
During the press conference on Tuesday, Dutch PM Rutte confirmed that schools will reopen next Monday (8 February). There are, however, conditions and measures attached to the reopening.
- Rapid corona tests will be available. (Of course they will.)
- If one person tests positive for the virus all classmates or group, as well as class teachers, must quarantine for five days. At this point, as long as there is a negative test, the class may return.
- Tests are not obigatory, but without a test a child must quarantine for ten days instead of five.
- Group 7 and 8 children in particular should wear face masks outside of the classroom, as should teachers.
- Children should work in small groups socially distanced from others.
- Schools should stagger start and break times.
- Parents should drop younger children off outside the school gates, and wear face masks.
The reality of this could well be wildly different from the theory.
Class sizes would need to be dramatically reduced to enable social distancing in a classroom. Even in a small class of 18, as is the case in my sons’ class, keeping 1.5 meters distance between each couple/group is nigh on impossible.
Some parents have already outed their reluctance to have their children tested. And I am expressing that mildly.
And then there’s this: 26% of those testing positive for a COVID test refuse to quarantine.
In other words, safely reopening the schools and creches relies on co-operation that schools may not see from all parents.
How Do Parents Feel About Reopening Dutch Primary Schools?
I could share social media posts at this point, but I will spare you that. Instead, I have scouted around on Twitter for opinions on reopening Dutch primary schools. I now may need to bleach my eyes. It’s a cess pool mixed bag.
Some parents are screaming for schools to open.
Some state that this is corona stuff is all nonsense and schools should never have closed in the first place, oh and whilst we are opening schools the curfew needs to be dumped and the government needs to open everything else up too.
And there are parents who are adamant the schools should not open Monday.
There are also a lot of parents in the middle, uncertain about the implications of reopening and the impact of measures on the kids.
How Does Staff Feel About Reopening Dutch Primary Schools?
The impending third wave warnings from the OMT and the conflicting government action of reopening Dutch primary schools is causing mixed emotions.
Teachers, particularly those personally or with family members in the higher risk groups, are concerned about safety as the British variant takes a hold in the Netherlands. The main feeling is “happy the kids can come back to school, but……..”
Measures Needed to Reopen the Schools
And then there’s the practicality of it all. Schools can open, but as I mentioned above, under certain conditions.
The government released documentation about the exact nature of those conditions yesterday afternoon, which the various organisations representing the primary education sector could then translate into actionable measures.
De randvoorwaarden voor de opening van de scholen zijn op dinsdagavond nog niet duidelijk. Samen met de PO-Raad, de Algemene Onderwijsbond (AOb) en de Algemene Vereniging Schoolleiders (AVS) buigt de bond zich woensdag over protocollen waarin concrete, haalbare maatregelen moeten komen. “Dat maakt dat het voor veel scholen nu gewoon te kort dag is om alles goed te regelen”, aldus de woordvoerder.
Bond twijfelt of opening scholen maandag haalbaar is: Nu.nl
Some school boards doubt whether the implementation of the necessary measures can be achieved by Monday. How the recommendations translate into actions in the classrooms are causing teachers across the country headaches.
Aside from physical space to separate children, I wonder how a teacher will continue to provide lessons to a group quarantining at home and a physical group in the class. Or how lessons online will continue when a whole class sits at home in quarantine but a teacher is sick. There are lots of issues to work out.
Makes you wonder when anyone from the Ministery of Education last stepped foot in an actual primary school classroom, but that’s a topic for another day.
Some school groups have already informed parents that their schools will not reopen on Monday. This is due to safety concerns, and the time needed to implement recommended measures.
We hear tomorrow how our school group is handling the reopening.
It is also worth noting, that as Dutch primary schools scramble to implement safety measures, France has already tightened their school measures taking them well beyond Dutch proposals.
The Other Side of the Story
Reopening Dutch primary schools has been a government priority since it was clear that conditions weren’t favourable enough for them to reopen at the beginning of the year.
There are continuing concerns about vulnerable children schooling from home, and children falling behind. There are also concerns about their social development.
All are definite valid concerns for some children. There can be no argument that children belong in school. But online schooling is not all bad news. As this teacher points out:
Gek fenomeen, ondanks dat online lesgeven meer tijd kost en minder effectief is, heb ik met mijn klassen een #leervoorsprong. Dit komt doordat er geen projecten en excursies zijn nu we in lockdown zitten en ik dus veel meer lestijd heb. Daar hoor ik dan weer niemand over.
— Elise Bouman (@jebouman) February 3, 2021
And of course, there are some children who are actually thriving schooling at home.
Over to You
I think we can all agree that children should be in school. But the question is should that be at any cost? How do you feel about schools reopening? What measures are your kids’ schools putting in place? If you are a teacher, how are you feeling about standing in front of your classes on Monday? I would love to hear from you.
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