The red scenario has come into effect for schools in Bucharest, as the rate of COVID-19 infections has exceeded 3 per thousand inhabitants, which means that for the next 14 days education will take place exclusively online. In the five weeks since the start of school, the COVID-19 infection rate for 0-19 year olds has increased by 155%.
The Foundation For The Defense Of Citizens Against State Abuses (FACIAS) recalls that the Minister of Education declared five days ago that 8,057 tablets will be distributed to students in Bucharest and that she will monitor this distribution process, but Minister Monica Anisie does not know whether or not the tablets have reached schools. Only 26,000 of the promised 250,000 tablets have been distributed nationwide. In Bucharest alone there are 280,000 pupils.
There are cases in Bucharest, quite numerous, where schools are not ready for online teaching, due to the lack of a high-speed internet connection or the necessary devices to carry out online learning in good conditions.
The process by which pupils obtained the tablets was an unsatisfactory one, with parents having to fill in applications for the tablets in an extremely short time and many being unable to send them in time for objective reasons.
The Minister's claim that the situation will be remedied by December is unacceptable. Every day lost due to lack of adequate equipment for e-learning means lost knowledge and skills for students that they can never recover.
The whole situation is the result of incompetence at the top of the Ministry of Education, which had several months to anticipate the current situation and prepare adequately for all the scenarios that they themselves defined.
For all these management shortcomings and incompetence that she shows on a daily basis, FACIAS believes that the resignation of Minister Monica Anisie is imperative and is the only solution for Romanian education to get a chance to get out of the delicate situation in which it finds itself.