Education Ministry Announces Gradual Return to Kindergartens Amidst Concerns from Teachers

The Ministry of Education has confirmed that starting tomorrow, Wednesday, a gradual return to kindergartens will also be possible in the Gush Dan area, the Shefala, the Dead Sea and the Bekaa, according to the defense instructions of the Home Front Command. At the same time, today the Ministry of Education announced the resumption of classes in after-school and long-day education settings in localities where there is educational activity.

At this stage, the Home Front Command allows studies without restrictions in green settlements, which include Eilat, the Arava, the Dead Sea, the Beit Shan Valley, the Carmel, the Upper Galilee and the Lower Galilee. In these localities it will be possible to open the kindergartens starting tomorrow without special restrictions, according to the decisions of the local authorities. In yellow areas, which mainly include the Sharon area and Jerusalem, it is possible to hold studies only if there are proper protected spaces for all children, or to hold studies in shifts according to the number of children who can enter the protected space. Even in these localities it will be possible to resume studies in the kindergartens under the restrictions of the protected spaces.

In red settlements, which include the Gaza Strip and the central Negev (including Be'er Sheva), it is not possible to hold studies. The Gush Dan area and Tel Aviv are now considered yellow zones, where classes can be held, including in kindergartens, under restrictions.

According to the guidelines, every kindergarten in the area where educational activities can be held will be opened for studies in small groups of up to 20 students for two two-hour sessions each week. The Ministry of Education has already started contacting kindergarten teachers and assistants to prepare for the resumption of studies.

This is not a return to a normal school routine, but rather early educational activity in the kindergartens, in localities where the Home Front Command allows classes to be held: in "green" localities, classes can be held in all educational institutions; In "yellow" settlements, limited activity can be held, if the school has a protected space; And in red settlements a special permit is needed.

However, until now, the Home Front Command has banned classes in kindergartens and dormitories throughout the country. According to the Home Front Command, the updated instructions will be distributed later.

According to the instructions, in the first few days the kindergarten staff will practice evacuating children to the protected spaces. The ministry has not yet updated on solutions for kindergarten children and educational staff who are at home, when kindergarten teachers will have difficulty getting to work in the kindergartens when their children are staying at home.

The instructions of the Ministry of Education caused concern and pressure in kindergarten groups, who expressed distress in their correspondence. "I don't have an arrangement for the children and I don't leave the house, not even to the supermarket out of fear. So I have to go to kindergarten every morning?" wrote one of the kindergarteners in an urban WhatsApp group of kindergarteners in a locality where the kindergarteners were asked to get ready to go back to the kindergartens.

Another kindergartner added, "I don't understand how they let us come back. We need to be at home with our children who study remotely and we are not available mentally." A third kindergartner wrote: "I don't sleep at night because of fear, so how will I get to kindergarten when I myself am not 100%?"

"The Ministry of Education presents us as cannon fodder to the parents who pressed for the resumption of studies and to the local authorities who want to please them and do not protect us," Hila (pseudonym) resented. "I would understand if an orderly job was done and the kindergartens were returned to normal after making sure that all the teachers in the kindergartens are in good working order, providing armed security guards near each kindergarten and allowing the kindergarteners to be absent if they are unable to come, but instead they are trying to return us from now to now without serious work.

"We are at war and the Ministry of Education is caught in the dark, like all the other government ministries, unable to provide answers to legitimate questions, such as how we are supposed to evacuate to the MMD with 20 children within a minute and a half or what will be done with our children who are in distance learning at home. This also happened with Corona, but this time the situation is more serious. The kindergarteners are on the market and in shock."

One of the kindergarteners concluded: "I feel that trial and error is being made at the expense of the kindergarteners. I am a kindergartener and not an operator, so if this is just an activity, then the local authority should hold an activity with the participation of the parents and their responsibility. Why are the kindergarteners always at the forefront? I want an education ministry that will protect me and protect me and not let me down responsibility".