Deputy PM Turcan says local officials' involvement in preparing for new school year matters much

Deputy Prime Minister Raluca Turcan, first deputy chair of the National Liberal Party (PNL), said on Thursday that she had told local elected officials that the way they would get involved in preparing for the start of the school year would be very important, including to the outcome of the local elections.

"I believe that the concern and effort must be for all parties involved. It is not enough just for the government to prepare all measures for the start of the school year, by decentralising the decision on how to start school, as the responsibility is also of school inspectors, principals, prefects, and also of the mayors, who have to check if the school infrastructure is adequate. We would like the school to run in the green scenario, that is, in person, but here there are two important criteria: that of epidemiological development, and some thresholds have been set according to which we enter one scenario or another - up to one case of illness per 1,000 inhabitants for 14 days, between one and three cases of illness per 1,000 inhabitants and over three cases of illness per 1,000 inhabitants for 14 days," Turcan said.

She said that there is also the criterion of physical distancing, with the Ministry of Education having requested an assessment of the situation of classrooms.

"The Ministry of Education and Research has requested all school principals to say exactly how many children there are in classrooms, how many classrooms there are in a school, how it is possible to apply physical distancing, how many teaching staff there will be, what access is to technological equipment, how much coverage there is, and do so by the beginning of next week, through school inspectorates. After the evaluation, we have the map and time when 250,000 tablets purchased by the government start to be delivered; they will be targeted especially for vulnerable areas," added Turcan.