The Minister of Education, Marco Antonio Avilareferred to the controversy generated by the announcement of the extension of the school recess for the month of July, which was jointly communicated to the Ministry of Health (Minsal) due to the rise in pediatric hospitalizations.
It should be noted that the initial information given by the Minsal together with the Ministry of Education was the announcement of an advance and extension of the winter vacations, but then Minister Ávila pointed out that “these are not vacations.”
When asked if what was expressed by both portfolios was a communication error, the Secretary of State indicated in meganews that “I think that sometimes one sees a bit of pettiness or taking the easy wedge, there is no mistake, or lack of coordination, what we have done or at least I during the rest of the days, has been to deepen the explanations” .
Going specifically, he pointed out that he wanted to deepen what was reported, since “of course, it is a school break and it is called that or winter vacations, but they are not vacations in the strict sense of the word where one organizes a calendar and puts together a schedule of social activities, because we want to take care of the children and we have to avoid a lot of exposure to social activities, which is different from saying outdoor activities.
“Without health there is no education, that is why it is important that these children are taken care of, that we prevent them from getting seriously ill so that we can count on their attendance,” he added.
Interpellation of Chile Let’s go
The parties that make up Chile Vamos (UDI, RN and Evópoli) announced that they would carry out an oversight offensive against these two ministries on the handling of the pandemic and the decision to extend the school recess.
The leader of the National Renewal caucus, Andrew Longtonindicated that “this joint action responds to how we have been working as Chile Vamos since the beginning of the legislative period in Congress, where unity has prevailed more than personal or partisan interests.”
“We see with concern how the lack of coordination and planning between the ministries has led them to make the wrong decisions. Unfortunately, this government has had a very low risk communication and that has meant that the vaccination process, which was a success at world level, it is no longer,” he added.
Meanwhile, the deputy Jorge Alessandri (UDI), will be in charge of questioning the head of the Mineduc, who specified that the first thing he wants to ask is “for this suspension of classes or extension of vacations that is being done.”
“The initial reason seemed to be respiratory viruses, those that attack children under five years of age, but the measure seems excessive if that is the reason,” he added.
Finally, he stated that “violence in educational establishments is also (among the topics), especially in the emblematic ones; what measurement is going to be used if it is not the Simce, what measurement is going to be used to evaluate whether the schools are doing its hit or not”.
Faced with this scenario, Minister Ávila maintained that “this probably takes one out (of his tasks), because he has to prepare, but it is a prerogative that the Chamber of Deputies has and is very available to be able to answer all the doubts that they have about this and other topics in the portfolio”.
