Kids going to school with Covid-19 symptoms

Students with coronavirus-related symptoms often go to school. In addition, the ventilation in a large part of schools still does not seem to be in order. This is reported by CNV Onderwijs after research among almost 1,500 members of the union.

'Stay at home with symptoms' has been a basic rule since the start of the coronavirus crisis, the union said. However, 53 percent of members who work in secondary schools indicate that they still see students who come to school with coronavirus-related symptoms. In MBO this is 52 percent. At university this concerns 35 percent of members who see this happening, in HBO 28 percent and in primary education 42 percent.

According to Daniëlle Woestenberg, chair of CNV Onderwijs, it is clear that coughing, feverish and gasping students do not contribute to everyone's sense of safety at school. "We all really have to take individual responsibility and hold each other accountable, no matter how annoying that may be for some."

Good ventilation has been added to the list of basic measures since the summer, according to CNV Onderwijs. But the research showed that only a small part of the staff think that the ventilation is in order. In primary education this is 33 percent, in secondary education 34 percent, in MBO 23 percent, in HBO 32 percent, and in university education 37 percent. "These are simply shocking figures, after a year and a half of the coronavirus crisis. Bad ventilation already causes illness and absence in 'normal times'," Woestenberg said. She had hoped that the coronavirus had acted as a catalyst to solve this problem that has existed for years. "But far too little is happening. Everyone is pointing at each other."

More than 90 percent of the study participants said that they have been at least partially vaccinated. Young people aged 12 years and older and their parents should realize that a higher vaccination rate among them also means that the chance of lesson cancellations and quarantines, and in the worst case school closures, is much smaller, said the chairman of CNV Onderwijs. 

According to Woestenberg, schools can become much safer if everyone takes responsibility for limiting the chances of infection. "Nobody in education wants another school year with quarantines, lesson cancellations and closed schools."