Is it dangerous to go to school? This topic has been under consideration since the beginning of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in Bulgaria. 30.68% of all PCR tests performed in Bulgaria in the past 24 hours returned positive. Many Bulgarian schools report about infected teachers or teachers placed under mandatory quarantine. Some Bulgarian teachers also became victims of Covid-19. In the beginning of September and the beginning of the school year in this country, the authorities said online learning should only be used as a last resort. However, high school students and university students have already switched over to distance learning. Meanwhile, school principals were authorized to determine the conditions themselves and shift to online learning after they get a green light from the health minister.  Of course, Bulgaria’s Minister of Health set a reference point- schools switch over to online learning when 15% of students and teachers are absent because of conronavirus symptoms. Closing schools is the easiest thing. However, this would mean that we sacrifice more or less the right of children to education, this country’s Minister of Education and Science Krasimir Valchev said several days ago and added that schools should adopt the local approach.

So far, no one seems to question the benefits of the in-class learning. Although the results of the last school year were encouraging, it became clear that there are many loopholes, especially in terms of technical provision.

With the growth of the pandemic in the country, however, the claim that schools are incubator of infection seem to explain the results of the latest survey of “Education” Syndicate with Podkrepa Confederation of Labor. It turned out that 71% of the Bulgarian teachers support the online learning introduced for high school students. 66% of the respondents say students from secondary schools should also switch over to online learning. However, 53% of the teachers contend that pupils from the first to the fourth grade must not shift to distance learning.

“Teachers categorically support online learning for high-school and secondary school students for two reasons. I think that it is only a matter of time for teachers in primary schools to start thinking the same way. The aggressive campaign of the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science and the National Operational Headquarters and the constant talking of possible threats influenced quite seriously the Bulgarian teachers”, the President of “Education” Syndicate with Podkrepa Confederation of Labor Yulian Petrov. The anti-epidemic measures in the Bulgarian schools are definitely observed much more strictly than in other public buildings, Yulian Petrov added. He underlined that if 10% or more of the teachers in a given school are absent, it would be extremely difficult for the school principals to organize the learning process and they would ask the minister to allow them to switch over to distance learning. The labor unions also pay attention to the technical provision of teachers to work in online environment noting that currently the Ministry of Education allocates funding for the purchase of laptops for 2% of the teachers only. 

The discussion about the form of education grew a lot in the social networks. Teachers signed a petition in support of distance learning and parents initiated a petition in support of the in-class form of education. While some teachers threatened to resign if they have to attend in-class learning, parents contend that distance learning do not allow them to fulfill their duties at work, because they have to be close to their children when they study from home.

“Everyone is aware of the outbreaks of Covid-19 infection at school. However, we must try to keep schools open as much as possible”, Dr. Asparouh Iliev, who lives in Germany and heads a laboratory in Bern, said for BNR. Dr. Asparouh Iliev specified that the authorities should resort to school closures after having exhausted all other possible options.

Compiled by: Elena Karkalanova

English version: Kostadin Atanasov