Pending the administration of the first dose of vaccine against Covid-19 about 900 employees, today officially began vaccinating teaching and non-teaching staff of public and private schools, with a view to reopening the schools that the government continues to aspire to specify in March.
Although the vaccination effort for this sector is currently concentrated in centers located in San Juan, Bayamón and Mayagüez, five more centers will be opened next Monday: in Loíza, Arroyo, Comerío, Arecibo and Ponce, the assistant said. General of the National Guard, José Reyes.
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Once the eight vaccination centers are open, 2,400 people could be vaccinated daily from Monday to Friday. Although at this rate it would be possible to immunize 55,000 public and private school employees in less than two months, the Secretary of Education has appointed, Elba Aponte Santos, stressed that a possible reopening of classrooms would not be conditioned by the achievement of a goal of vaccinated people.
“It simply came to our notice then. Our expectation is to be able to have our employees vaccinated, because it minimizes any risk and is a feeling of protection, but it is not conditioned by that “, Aponte Santos underlined in a press conference held at Federico Asenjo School, in San Juan, one of the vaccination centers for school staff.
Leaders of teachers’ organizations, private education, school canteens and public school principals were also present at the event.
“It could be said that the process was quite organized. In the city of Bayamón at 9:00, my colleagues who finished the vaccination process called me. They had many tables there. Here and in Mayagüez the process continues. People feel safe, with distance and protocols, so it was a very agile process to offer a little security to teachers and non-teaching staff. In case of Federation (Teachers) We understand that it is not safe at this time to return personally, the positivity rate is too high and children will not be vaccinated. However (the beginning of vaccinating employees) is a step forward, “said Mercedes Martinez, chairman of that body.
Wanda Ayala, chairman of the Board of Directors of Private Education AssociationHe recalled that about 40% of school-age students are enrolled in private schools, so it was of great importance that this sector also participates in this phase of vaccination.
“At the end of this week, through Superintendence of Catholic schools and the Association for Private Education will be reorganized according to the regions, which the school attends on that day, so that it can participate (vaccination) without having to crowd people or wait, because we have virtual courses to participate “, said Ayala.
“Private schools have been working in their schools since the executive order in May (2020) authorized teachers and non-teachers to be on campus for a possible reopening, when it was given. Therefore, apart from the fact that private education is autonomous and independent, and its level of education corresponds to each institution, we understand that as soon as the governor authorizes it, private schools may be ready to restart, “he added.
However, Aponte Santos reiterated that there is no set date for the return to face-to-face courses, beyond the general target set for March. Therefore, the reopening of schools will depend on several factors, he insisted.
“We have an expectation to move to a plan that we are designing and we have set this goal as a sense of urgency. There are several issues we are working on: infrastructure, transport, staff recruitment, school conditioning. We work with all these priorities. This will be in a community-oriented way, there are communities that have approached us, that have developed their plan in schools and want to give them the opportunity. We are consulting with the Department of Health to go in this direction, even with the most vulnerable, (such as students) in kindergarten, special education and the fourth year “, said the appointed head of the agency.
In terms of infrastructure, Aponte Santos stressed that “all” schools need a certain degree of conditioning to receive students. However, about 53 schools “are not suitable” to open without major jobs, while another 253 are “partially adequate”, according to official data. About 551 of the 857 campuses are in good condition.
At the same press conference, the president Teachers’ Association, Victor Bonilla SánchezHe pointed out that the organization’s resources visited 432 public schools, of which, he said, 60% were “unsuitable” for reopening.
Aponte Santos said that “interconnected” programs will be considered to allow the presence of students from schools with major damage and did not close the door to reopening schools in good condition, which were closed by previous administrations, especially in the southern region, where Schools were badly affected by last year’s earthquakes.