School Shifts to Remote Learning if Over 10 Percent of Teachers and Students are Infected: Zhanna Andreasian

A high-level ministerial meeting titled "One Year After COVID-19: Prioritizing Education Recovery to Mitigate the Impact of the Crisis on Generations" has taken place, featuring three parallel online sessions. This was reported by the Armenian Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport.

The meeting included education ministers and senior officials from partner organizations collaborating with UNESCO. The Deputy Minister of Education, Zhanna Andreasian, participated in the thematic discussion on "Keeping Schools Open: Prioritizing and Supporting Teachers." The deputy minister emphasized the importance of such meetings for sharing best practices to ensure every child's right to education.

"The year 2020 was filled with challenges for our country, not only due to COVID-19 but also because of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh in September, which also affected the spread of the second wave of the coronavirus," said Andreasian, informing attendees that the 2020-2021 school year in Armenia commenced on September 14 in accordance with inter-agency cooperation protocols and guidelines.

In this context, she outlined the efforts made to overcome the pandemic in the education sector. According to the deputy minister, a situational approach has been adopted: if the number of reported COVID-19 cases among staff and students exceeds 10 percent, the school will shift to remote education.

If a student has any of the risk group diseases related to COVID-19, or if a family member of that student is in the risk group, the Educational Technologies National Center organizes centralized remote learning for that student.

"Currently, we have approximately 5000 such students. Such measures allow us to keep schools open while simultaneously reducing the spread of the disease. Regarding the health and safety of teachers, I would like to mention that teachers in the high-risk group for severe cases of COVID-19, as well as those aged 65 and older, have been given the option to organize their work remotely if appropriate conditions are met," the deputy minister stated.

She also pointed out that if any teachers do not report for work, schools can engage substitute teachers for the vacant hours. Additionally, anticipating possible new outbreaks during the school year, the National Center for Educational Technologies has conducted training for teachers on "Remote Teaching Skills" to ensure the uninterrupted educational process for students.

At the end of her speech, Zhanna Andreasian thanked the attendees for the exchange of experiences and expressed hope that this challenge could soon be overcome.

The purpose of the event was to ensure political dialogue on urgent and current educational challenges and to mobilize partners to support students, teachers, and policymakers with new tools and knowledge.