Almost all primary schools open again

Almost all primary schools in the Netherlands are now open to physical education again, though many are still struggling to adhere to all the coronavirus rules, according to a survey by the general association of school leaders AVS among a thousand primary schools. Only 0.4 percent of primary schools are still only giving online classes, NU.nl reports.

According to the AVS, 49 percent of schools opened their doors again on Monday, 47 percent on Tuesday, and almost 4 percent on Wednesday. 89 percent are providing full physical education, and about 10 percent work with a combination of in-school and distance learning. 

Letting children work in small, separate groups in particular is a struggle at many primary schools. 59 percent said they were unable to achieve this, 30 percent were able to make it work to some extent, and only 7 percent said it works well. The idea behind this measures is to prevent the entire class having to go into quarantine if a child becomes infected with the coronavirus.

Face masks in groups 7 and 8 also seem to be a problem, with 47 percent of schools not wearing masks at all. 53 percent do have kids and teachers where a mask in these grades, some only in the hallways, others also in class. 

90 percent of school leaders said the prepared well for reopening schools, although some still criticized the short notice they got. Minister Arie Slob for Primary and Secondary Education announced that primary schools would be allowed to reopen a week before the reopening date, and only released the guideline of coronavirus measures to be taken in the middle of that week.