Cabinet wants to prevent school closures but does not rule them out.

Cabinet wants to prevent school closures but does not rule them out.

During the debate in the House of Representatives about the corona measures, minister Arie Slob made clear yesterday that the cabinet wants to prevent schools from closing earlier. However, given the high infection rates, he cannot completely rule it out. The situation will be reassessed on December 14. Besides Slob, prime minister Rutte and minister De Jonge were also present at the debate.

Week longer Christmas holiday

In the 131st OMT advice, it was advised to start the Christmas holiday one week earlier, which would give an extra week off and schools would be closed for an extra week. The cabinet did not adopt this measure. Among others, the VVD and D66 asked yesterday if this would not be a good measure after all. Slob said in the debate that the cabinet wants to prevent schools from closing and that extra measures have therefore been taken, such as the advice to wear face masks and self-test from group 6 in primary school. The advice for students and education staff to do a self-test twice a week also applies to mbo and secondary education. Our website has more information about self-testing.

Not off the table

However, according to the minister, the measure is not off the table. If the infection rates do not drop enough, the Christmas holiday can still be extended by a week. The House wants clarity on this as soon as possible for parents and schools. The date planned for this is December 14, when the situation will be reassessed. A motion by Paternotte (D66) and Omtzigt (Member Omtzigt) asks the government to ask the OMT earlier whether a week of school closure is necessary. Preferably no later than the week of December 6 to 10. Westerveld (GroenLinks) submitted a motion requesting clarity about the Christmas holiday as soon as possible. The House adopted these two motions, so the cabinet must work on this.

Testing

All schools will receive self-tests from Monday. That is a supply for two weeks. Before the Christmas holiday, new tests will be delivered so there are enough tests for the new year. Schools received all related information on December 1, which also includes guidelines and example letters for parents.

Ventilation

The minister indicated that many schools now have good ventilation, but there are also schools where it is not yet in order. Money has been made available for this. To be well prepared for next winter, the members of Parliament Paternotte (D66) and Kuiken (PvdA) submitted a motion asking the cabinet to provide as many education institutions as possible with good ventilation systems and CO2 meters in every classroom. This motion was also adopted.