Education Minister Dariusz Piontkowski announced this month that Poland would reopen most of its schools to students after the summer break.
The powerful Polish Teachers' Union (ZNP) said on Tuesday it wanted the government to give more leeway and decision-making authority to school principals amid the coronavirus pandemic.
It also called on authorities to provide schools with personal protective equipment to prevent the spread of the virus.
Unionists have sent their proposals to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki as the new school year approaches, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency has reported.
The Polish education minister confirmed on Tuesday that, after a prolonged period of distance learning amid the coronavirus pandemic, traditional in-person classes would be reinstated in most schools nationwide from September 1.
Piontkowski has previously told reporters that restrictions will only be possible in counties flagged as "red" and "yellow," meaning those with more infections than elsewhere.
There are 19 such counties at the moment, of the total number of 380 nationwide.
The leader of the Polish Teachers' Union, Sławomir Broniarz, argued on Tuesday that school principals and bodies running schools in areas with rising infections should be allowed to postpone the start of classes without having to consult public health officials.
He also appealed for mass coronavirus testing for teachers and free flu shots for school staff.
"We are convinced that 650,000 teachers deserve to be screened so that we do not become carriers or spreaders of this coronavirus," Broniarz said.
The union also proposed that schools in "red-zone" counties be allowed to automatically switch to distance learning.
The education ministry has rolled out a set of special guidelines for schools to follow in the face of the pandemic. These include compulsory hand washing after entering the school premises and frequent airing of the classrooms.
Officials have also drawn up "10 rules of safe learning at school" for students.
Michał Dworczyk, head of the Polish Prime Minister’s Office, said this week that schools across the country would receive nearly 4 million litres of disinfectant and more than 50 million face masks to be distributed among teachers and possibly older students in preparation for the start of the new academic year.
A total of 63,073 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Poland since the start of the pandemic, and 1,977 have died from the COVID-19 respiratory disease so far, health ministry officials said on Tuesday.
On Friday, August 21, Poland's public health authorities reported a record daily rise of 903 new coronavirus infections nationwide, the most since the pandemic hit the country in early March.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR, PAP
