site.btaNational Ombudsman: "Online Schooling Has Reached Its Limit"

December 1 (BTA) - Online schooling has reached its limit, Bulgaria's National Ombudsman Diana Kovatcheva said here on Wednesday, speaking at a two-day online conference on "COVID-19 and Children's Rights," initiated by the National Network for Children.

"Children who are schooled online lose their motivation to study and lag behind in their literacy level," Kovatcheva said. She is concerned about the mental stability of pupils who are isolated at home.

The Ombudsman noted that the parents of higher-grade pupils are now forced to pay for coronavirus tests so that their children could attend in-person classes. She argued that this amounts to property discrimination against families who cannot afford these expenses and their children's access to education is thus barred. "It is high time a solution was found to that crisis," Kovatcheva insisted.

In 2020 alone, the Ombudsman received over 1,400 complaints about the pandemic restrictions. She said that earlier on Wednesday she sent Health Minister Stoycho Katsarov recommendations regarding online schooling and will also refer recommendations to the newly elected Parliament.

Kovatcheva pointed out that distance learning services have also worsened the problems of pupils with special educational needs. She argued that the children of families at risk of poverty are also victims of the pandemic.

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Also on Wednesday, Katsarov said that 8th to 12th graders already attend in-person classes in 21 administrative regions without being required to submit to testing. In seven regions, though, the infection rate is high which testing there is mandatory because of the high risk. The Health Minister pointed out further that a large quantity of test kits for 1st to 7th grade pupils are still stranded at various customs offices across Europe. "If the Education Ministry decides that adult tests can be administered to higher-grade pupils, we can immediately distribute them," he added.

Katsarov said that 4.8 million non-invasive test kits had been contracted so far, of which 1.5 million have been delivered to the Education Ministry and 200,000 are in storage. Another 400,000 kits have yet to arrive. In his estimate, this quantity of test kits would suffice for all schoolchildren at least until mid-January. LN/LG

Photo: National Ombudsman's Office