Schools in large Azerbaijani cities shut again due to Covid-19

JAMnews

Baku

Due to an upswing in Covid-19 cases in Baku and a number of other large cities of Azerbaijan, schools are switching to distance learning starting April 5; it has not been specified when face-to-face lessons in schools will resume.

From Monday, April 5, secondary schools in the cities of Baku, Ganja, Sheki and Sumgait, as well as in the Absheron region, are switching to distance learning due to an increase in the level of coronavirus infection. This decision was made by the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan. The question remains when schools will resume normal work.

At the same time, it is not specified for how many days schools are transferred to online education. The ministry added that this decision does not apply to higher and preschool educational institutions. For kindergartens, the decision to terminate full-time classes must be made by the executive authorities of the settlements.

As for universities, now full-time training is carried out only in those specialties that require the direct presence of students in the classroom (engineers, doctors, etc.).

On March 30, the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan announced a public opinion poll on the form of organizing the educational process in secondary schools.

Over two days, over 50,000 people took part in the survey, the ministry said in a statement.

Almost half of the respondents (45.7 percent) were in favor of transferring all classes to online education.

19.5 percent of those who took part in the survey noted that it is advisable to transfer to online education in those regions where the level of coronavirus infection is higher than the national average, 17.2 percent of respondents wanted to leave everything as it is, i.e. continue full-time education. Only 6.3 percent of respondents were in favor of transferring students of grades V-IX to online education.

Vaccination of teachers continues

Since early March, Azerbaijan has been vaccinating teachers of secondary schools over 50 years old. More than 55 percent of all teachers are still vaccinated against COVID-19, the Ministry of Education said.

In the meantime, all citizens over 40, including education workers, can be vaccinated free of charge and voluntarily across the country.

Comments

sers of the Azerbaijani segment of social networks are actively discussing the decision of the Ministry of Education to close schools for quarantine. Here are some typical comments:

“We think about today and destroy our future.”

“And in other regions, how can they get infected further?”

“Well, these people don’t want to learn, leave them alone.”