Recommendations for starting a safe school year 2020-2021, while promoting quality inclusive education for all children in Romania

The opinions expressed in this document belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of UNICEF. Executive summary

his document was created to support the national, county, and local authorities to plan the beginning of the school year 2020-2021 safely for children and for all the school staff, as well Tas to provide quality inclusive education throughout this unprecedented worldwide situation. The goal was to identify a set of solutions which may help reduce both the impact of the pandemic upon learning, and the gaps in terms of access to education after schools were closed from March to July 2020 in Romania. This material was drafted by a team of 18 principals involved in implementing the ”Quality inclusive education: transition from lower to upper secondary education” model, and by representatives of the county institutions in Bacău, at the initiative and coordinated by UNICEF Romania. The recommendations proposed are based on the three scenarios displayed by the Ministry of Education and Research, as well as on the experience acquired by the education experts from March until July 2020, under the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. The solutions presented also show the outcomes of the consultations organized at a community level on topics such as challenges, vulnerabilities, constraints, and solutions specific to each and every scenario. Special attention was paid to vulnerable students and to those at risk of school drop-out . The considerations and the proposals submitted are equally looking at removing barriers for attending education, supporting learning and guaranteeing well-being for all students, as well as supplying the necessary support for teachers, school staff, and managerial teams, for them to be able to safely provide inclusive contexts and quality education services. We hope these recommendations may help design some informed decisions, able to enhance access to quality inclusive education for all the children.

✔✔✔ The approach of the new school year in the field of education and health will make a will be decided and grounded by each school/ priority of providing advice and information for community depending on their resources, on schools prior to returning to school and during the local epidemiological situations, on the the school year; current limitations and opportunities; ✔✔✔ provide advice and psychological, social ✔✔✔ ensure best practices are shared and emotional support for children, students, among schools and communities with and teachers; respect to the solutions taken depending on ✔✔✔ promote campaigns aimed at reducing the circumstances; stigmatization and fear related to contagion or ✔✔✔ collect vital data for documenting and contamination at the school level (staff, students, grounding new decisions action plans before families); the school year begins, in terms of children/ ✔✔✔ additional financial support for schools to students (identify the vulnerable children; prepare the return to school in a context prone identify the main support needs) and their to inclusion, safety, and health by providing families (access to devices and Internet, quality education (additional funding from digital skills, availability to accompany one’s central and local authorities, non-governmental child during the online schooling process); organizations, and the community; reprioritizing ✔✔✔ the institutions with responsibilities the expense plans). PROPOSALS FOR THE GENERAL FRAMEWORK FOR PROPOSALS The green scenario Start the school year with regular attendance, in PRIORITY SUPPORT NEEDS: strict conditions for preserving all the students‘ and staff’s health

Recommendations/solutions proposed: ✔ amend the National Education Act (NEA) Art 63 – students’ number ✔ flexible schedule for initiating the activities, reduce the groups/ (reduce the number of children/ classes, rearrange the classroom (freedom of choice for schools, students while taking into account considering the differences in terms of existing schooling areas and that the schooling numbers have the number of shifts; potentially relocate some classes in the spare already been approved); spaces or using modern containers); ✔ financial support for purchasing ✔ arrange the outdoor areas of kindergartens so that as many learning containers for the schools lacking activities can occur outdoors; space, which cannot identify spaces in other schools; ✔ suspend the “Other kind of school” programme at all education levels; ✔ additional financial resources assigned for all additional staff ✔ identify and hire additional staff: teachers, auxiliary staff, school categories; new norms on the staff, administrative, and medical staff; have some teaching activities teaching practice to be performed performed by assisting students/higher education students getting by students and pupils attending prepared for a teaching career, who perform their teaching practice; the Teaching Colleges; ✔ carry out remedial activities for the children/students who have not ✔ provide the funds needed for attended the online/distance learning; paying the scholarships and the ✔ perform some differentiated/individualized curricular adaptations benefits from economic agents at each school’s level; based on the collaboration contracts ✔ support from authorities for technological high schools to have concluded prior to the pandemic regular practical activities in place and pooled with the economic in various industries, mainly the agents (HORECA). Otherwise, there is a risk that students cannot HORECA field; benefit of these services which are highly necessary for the future of ✔ methodologies and guidelines the walk of life they have chosen; for teachers targeting remedial ✔ pay visits to schools and provide counseling from public health activities; experts; present the interpretation of the rules issued by the Public ✔ regulations and methodologies Health Directorates and check the school for licensing prior to starting drafted by the Public Health the school year; Directorates (PHD) and by the ✔ have self-quarantine undertaken by parents in the case of relevant ministries for providing the contaminations among pupils; hygiene and sanitary conditions; ✔ ban parents’ access inside the school/kindergarten; kindergarten ✔ have enough funds assigned by pick-up and drop-off procedures without the parents entering inside the Local Councils, directly linked to the educational area. the issues noticed by PHD and the recommendations proposed.

The Yellow Scenario Courses organized according to a mixed/hybrid PRIORITY SUPPORT NEEDS: model; Priority: preschoolers, the pupils in the preparatory school, the IVth, and the final classes

✔ legal regulations on monitoring Recommendations/solutions proposed: absenteeism in the case of distance learning; ✔ all preschoolers and students should have access to a minimum of ✔ additional financial resources assigned activities carried out by the teacher online an online attendance procedure to teachers performing activities both at should be developed; school and in the online environment; ✔ asynchronous online activity; flexible schedule; ✔ provide financial support for access to ✔ hire/detach enough medical staff, for a limited period; IT devices and applications needed for ✔ provide digital skills training for teachers; curricular adaptations should teachers and for digitalizing the schools; be made for online learning, considering access to education for all ✔ adapt the methodologies and children and especially for vulnerable children; regulations on teachers’ annual ✔ reduce the workload pressure on teachers by simplifying or reducing assessment while considering the the number of documents to be drafted and other administrative tasks, peculiarity of teaching, learning, and given that such documents will also be required in relation to teaching- evaluation in a hybrid system; learning-assessment in a hybrid system (blended-learning); ✔ methodological support and ✔ curricular and assessment methodology adjustment (by condensation/ regulations on planning and designing prioritization); hybrid activities per cycles, education ✔ plans for accelerated learning and remedial education; levels, and subjects; ✔ collaborative teaching at a school level, where there are several classes ✔ teaching guidelines on remedial at the same floor; education and accelerated learning in ✔ access funding for digitalizing and connecting the schools to Internet hybrid system; and for purchasing digital learning packages; ✔ clear regulations issued by the PHD ✔ pay visits to schools and provide counseling from public health experts; and national authorities, information present the point of view of the regulations issued by the Public Health and hygiene and safety rules promotion Directorates (PHD) and check the school for licensing prior to starting the materials made while targeting different school year; categories; provide additional medical staff in schools; online assistance, ✔ develop specific safety and health protocols for staff, students and the potentially an emergency helpline for wider school community, complemented by the Guidelines presented and medical specialists to provide advice to discussed with all beneficiaries; teachers, management teams, parents ✔ partnerships with parents for pursuing / extending / supporting the on hygiene and health issues related to learning activities carried out by children / students within the family; participation in children's school curricula. convey key information to the care takers and families of the students regarding the application of hygiene and sanitation protocols in the case of the newly established rules.

a x b= c The Red Scenario Online courses exclusively

Recommendations/solutions proposed: PRIORITY SUPPORT NEEDS: ✔ reshaping the length of a lesson in an online context, and the types of activities proposed for students; reshape the schedules at every school level; ✔ legal regulations on monitoring ✔ training expert groups to provide guidelines and absenteeism for distance learning; methodologies with concrete examples, effective in ✔ exclusively online teaching-learning-assessment methods, purchase technological resources through at different ages and according to different subjects; government programs or European funds, so that all students can have access to this type ✔ training the teachers to reshape the whole educational of learning; provide financial support for access practice in exclusively online context; to computer devices and applications needed ✔ accessing funds for digitizing the educational by teachers and for ensuring the digitization of institutions, connecting schools to Internet and for educational institutions; purchasing digital learning packages, and supporting teachers to purchase the necessary devices and access to ✔ adapt the methodologies and regulations the necessary IT applications; regarding the annual teachers’ evaluation ✔ access to recognized online, official platforms easy to while taking into account the specifics of use by students (and parents, in the case of preschoolers), teaching-learning-evaluation in an exclusively supplemented by printed learning kits, for children from online system; disadvantaged areas / families who do not have access to ✔ methodological support and regulations online resources; regarding the planning and design of ✔ facilitate access n of preschoolers / students to attend a exclusively online activities by cycles, minimum of activities proposed by the teacher, as well as education levels and subjects. the preparing of an online attendance procedure; ✔ curricular adjustment, by condensation / prioritization, only focusing on basic skills and allowing progress in learning at the next level; reconfiguration of evaluation methodologies, in the conditions of the educational process carried out exclusively online.

...... a x b= c Introduction

This material is intended to be a tool to support decision-makers at the national, county and local levels in planning the opening of the 2020-2021 school year in terms of ensuring high quality inclusive education, reducing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on learning and reducing the learning gaps occurred following the closure of schools and the interruption of schooling from March to July 2020 in Romania. The material was developed by documenting the interventions carried out in the Bacău county from March to July 2020 in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and by consultation with a working group consisting of school principals and the deputy general school inspector of the Bacău County School Inspectorate. The consultations aimed at analyzing the challenges, vulnerabilities, constraints and limitations in the context of the pandemic, the potential solutions identified by school principals, and the concrete support needs. The experience of the management teams from pre-university education units (20 high-schools and 35 secondary schools) was capitalized, some institutions successfully tested and implemented the Quality Inclusive Education intervention model proposed by UNICEF in Romania through the project “Social inclusion by providing integrated services at community level” from 2015 until 2019. Currently, they are also involved in the pilot program "Together for the future", focused on facilitating the transition of secondary school students to the upper secondary education, coordinated by UNICEF in Romania. Both projects aimed to test intervention models that would provide the documentation framework needed to substantiate changes in public policies focused on promoting inclusion and quality in education and preventing early school leaving. The experience of these schools and the management teams in addressing the inclusion and quality education issues could thus be capitalized on in proposing viable solutions for the opening of schools from September 2020. To document the decision-making, planning and concrete intervention processes at national and local level in the educational units, the consultations within the working group, carried out between July and August 2020, focused on the conditions for opening schools considering three scenarios: • the regular course attendance model, under strict requirements of protecting the health of all school stakeholders; • courses organized according to a mixed/hybrid model (alternatively, half of the class comes to school, while the other half attends courses online), in strict conditions to ensure the health of all school stakeholders; • exclusively online/distance courses using digital learning platforms and resources (alternatively, by organizing other forms of distance learning, in cases where access to technology is limited and Internet connectivity is low).

Discussions in the working group consultations focused on the ability of schools to implement prevention measures and provide quality inclusive education in the 2020-2021 school year and on decanting recommendations for each of the three scenarios, which focused on both the educational process, as well as safety and health issues. A key point pursued in the debates and found in this document was the recovery of learning gaps: teachers' perspectives on the blended- learning approach, risks and opportunities; perspectives on the tools they will use in the event that this type of scenario will be implemented; perspectives on assessing and recovering learning gaps and focusing on learning outcomes (vs. curricular recovery); education for all and for everyone - addressing the needs of children with SEN; elements of equity and inclusion - specific actions to prevent school dropout and identify vulnerable groups; mobilization and communication with parents; avoiding labeling and stigmatizing students. The considerations and proposals inserted in this document also aim to eliminate barriers to participation, learning and well-being of all children / students and primarily of those who are disadvantaged, but also to provide the necessary support to teachers, school staff and management teams to ensure inclusive contexts and high quality education services, safe and healthy for all. Context

The steps that formed the basis of this document took place in the Bacău County, but they must be considered in a much broader context of concerns and interventions at national and European level, focused on mapping the capacity of education and health systems to respond to the challenges raised by the pandemic, as well as the potential solutions to address the new challenges once schools reopen. The UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia has thus made a significant contribution to supporting governments, ministry representatives and other actors in the field of education at the national, local and school levels by developing and publishing the material Creating Resilient Education Systems in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: Considerations for decision-makers at national, local and school level. The document proposes an analysis and reflection framework targeting all levels of decision-making, while guiding recommendations to increase the resilience of education systems, to transform them into flexible systems, dedicated to all children, able to cope with new potential crises by means of the current and new innovative technologies and pedagogies proposed. “The material also aims to preserve and promote quality inclusive education and education for ALL children and young people, especially the most marginalized children, during and after the outbreak and recovery phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.” At a national level, with the onset of the pandemic, a series of correlated, intersectoral interventions were proposed in the fields of education and health, so that punctual, emergency solutions can be adopted in different local contexts, adapted to the constraints, limitations and needs of each county, from each school (e.g. The Teleschool programme, centralizing open educational resources published on digital.educred.ro). At the level of Bacău County, under the coordination of the County School Inspectorate, a series of support interventions took place between March and June 2020, equally focused on identifying the needs of students and teachers in the context of supporting online teaching- learning, as well as on facilitating the access of all children to education, especially those who are marginalized, from disadvantaged families, in whose case there is a risk of deepening and further learning gaps during the pandemic. The main actions taken were: - distribute the invitation initiated by the MER towards teachers to participate in an initial training on the use of educational platforms between 19-25 March 2020; - disseminate information on platforms that can provide optimal support for online learning (to teachers, principals, parents and students), including the presentation of their benefits or limitations (April 2020); - information on the support by the "School on the Net" MER partners of a webinar intended for principals and inspectors in which examples of good practices on the implementation of online learning at the level of schools were presented; - promote and coordinate the specific steps of the call for Euro 200 financial aid in order to stimulate the purchase of computers in 2020; - centralize, at the Bacău County level, the need for tablets for secondary school and high -school students from disadvantaged families, in order to continue the study at home, as a result of the intention of Bacău County Council to provide devices that can support online teaching; - centralize and communicate to the MER the number of students and teachers who could not participate in online learning activities (15,912 students and 788 teachers); - keep track of the educational units that applied in the extraordinary call for project proposals launched by the Central European Initiative (May 2020); - promote initiatives such as: the Digital Nation - Being a Teacher in the online medium programme, the national selection Creating education; - conduct weekly video conferences with school principals in the Bacău County to discuss issues of online learning and identify solutions to adapt the teaching process to new contexts and provide quality inclusive education.

The gaps between urban and rural areas in terms of access to resources needed for online learning were significant in Bacău County. Late March, the aggregate data from the field thus highlighted the involvement in distance learning activities of 38,775 students from urban areas (representing 86.93%) and 19,441 students from rural areas (only 69.25%). According to the analysis carried out at the level of the school inspectorate, 6,378 students in urban areas, and 9,604 students in rural areas did not have access to online learning platforms because they face problems such as lack of electricity, Internet access and a necessary device (smartphone, computer or tablet). Initiatives to cover these needs were taken both at the level of the Bacău County Council, by assigning funds for purchasing tablets for vulnerable children / students, and by submitting the application form by CSI Bacău on the extraordinary call for project proposals launched by the Central European Initiative - The area of education and distance learning / e-learning, through which a number of 10 pre-university education units and the County school inspectorate in Bacău applied for the endowment with equipment (soft and hard components, interactive lessons, access to webinars, etc.) for the process educational during the state of emergency and not only, with direct addressability to 928 beneficiary students and 230 teachers.

Analyses and approaches proposed

This document was drafted by the school managers getting directly involved, while also taking into account their proposals and the approach perspectives based on the school managers’ consultation with their own students and their families, as well as with the teaching staff with respect to the three potential options for carrying out teaching/learning/assessment activities during the new school year. The synthesis of the arguments and opinions brought by these categories of beneficiaries on the three scenarios includes the following:

A. From the students’ point of view

• the regular course attendance model, under strict requirements of protecting the health of all school stakeholders - this option is the most preferred by students, as they feel overstrained and exhausted, especially the students who have actively attended the online activities; - the students raised the need for a clear, properly designed schedule organized from the effort curve perspective; - the students consider this option to be the most beneficial for those who run the risk of school drop-out; - they appreciate that this option gives them the opportunity to ensure equal chances and differentiated treatment, by supporting the requirements of children with special educational needs in an appropriate manner, which is much more difficult, unless impossible to achieve if the other scenarios are considered.

• organizing the courses according to a mixed/hybrid model - this is an option accepted by students, as it allows, despite restrictions, for human interactions that students need so much; - they consider this option partially gives a chance to students who run the risk of school drop-out, if they are provided with tailor-made technical and material learning resources; - students consider their classmates with special education needs should receive aid and support from colleagues by means of peer teaching and peer mentoring interventions; - this is not deemed a viable solution for preschoolers, as it creates educational and group- adaptation gaps, the specific of this age being especially the development of social and emotional skills.

• organizing exclusively online courses - this option is not appreciated by the large majority of students, who invoke the lack of actual support for learning from teachers under the current circumstances, the lack of appropriate, personalized feedback, and the impossibility to apply knowledge and skills learned far from specialized labs or the practice areas specific for various education profiles and specializations.

B. From the teachers’ and the school staff’s point of view

- THE TEACHING STAFF

• The hybrid course model under strict requirements of protecting the health of all school stakeholders - it is a partially preferred option, the most frequent arguments being related to a significant effort required and an extensive lapse of time for preparing, designing, and carrying out the teaching, learning, and assessment processes online.

• organizing exclusively online courses - this option is not appreciated by the large majority of teachers, among the most frequent arguments being: the inability of many families to provide students with the necessary support to complete learning in this format; the issue of ensuring and monitoring students’ attendance in online activities and in autonomous, subsequent learning, by using online platforms and digital resources proposed by teachers or identified by students themselves; the urgent need for training and the lack of time needed for a real and substantial empowerment of teachers not only in terms of capitalizing on educational technology applications, but also on creating digital content by school subjects and capitalizing on techniques and tools for assessing student progress in this context.

- THE SCHOOL STAFF

• The regular frequency course model - this option is not preferred at all, as the current staff is far from being enough considering the measures to reduce the number of students in a classroom / of preschoolers in a group -schools do not have enough medical staff to select the students at the beginning of the school days, nor to provide the necessary medical aid during the school day.

C. From the families’ point of view • The regular frequency course model - this is the option preferred by most parents, their arguments being mainly the lack of skills/availability for assisting their children during the online or mixed educational activities (no much time available, the lack of enough devices for each family member, the lack of appropriate space, etc.). Recommendations for the general framework

Given the educational process is being planned during uncertain times, and the potential scenarios require subtle arrangements for every beneficiary and resource involved, in line with the specific local backgrounds and with the realities and constraints/opportunities underlying each education institution, this document also proposes several general suggestions which can be taken into account as potential landmarks irrespective of the option or the scenario to be adopted:

✔ each school/community shall decide the way it tackles the new school year depending on the resources at hand, on contextual challenges, the local epidemiologic situations, the limitations and opportunities, while justifying the option they have chosen; ✔ enable best practice exchanges among schools and communities with respect to the solutions implemented and the specific contexts experienced; ✔ collect some data, which are absolutely necessary for documenting and grounding the new decisions and action plans before returning to school with respect to children/students (attendance rate to online schooling from March to June 2020; identify the vulnerable children; identify the main support needs) and their families (work schedule, people who can stay with the child while their parents are at work, number of children per family, access to online education, material resources and digital skills, readiness to accompany the child during the home schooling process); ✔ improve the integrated IT system of the Romanian education system (SIIIR), to be able to identify and support students who have not been registered yet, those who will not be registered with the schooling system, or are in danger of not attending online education; ✔ trainings on online education shall be organized at the initiative of every school holistically, by making reference to common practices, collaborative teaching, assessment, and well-being, while having the opportunity to capitalize the training programs proposed/ launched by the Ministry of Education; ✔ the institutions certified in the field of education and health should provide counseling and information to schools as a priority, and only subsequently to have decisions taken with respect to legal consequences, provided the norms and rules proposed are not observed; ✔ establish monitoring systems for the students shifting from one education cycle to another one; ✔ actual support from the administrative and territorial units through the social services, with respect to vulnerable families, access to education, and concrete measures to boost school attendance; ✔ amendments of the codes of conduct or of other safeguard policies, including risk management plans and emergency protocols at the school level (benefitting from support and guidance from the Ministry of Education and Research and from the Ministry of Health); ✔ provide counseling and psychological, social, and emotional support for children, students, parents, and staff members, who feel affected by the conditions imposed by the new pandemic context, especially for vulnerable children. Promote campaigns aimed at reducing stigmatization and fears related to contagion or contamination at the school level (staff, students, families); ✔ identify the priorities of each and every school, review the budget to cover the cost for the measures needed for preparing the return to school under circumstances promoting inclusion, safety, and health, by supplying quality education (additional funding from the central and local authorities, from non-governmental organizations, and from the community; review the priorities of the expenditure plans); ✔ call on the local authorities, the community leaders, associations, civil society organizations, and the business community to support the efforts to return to school, including to establish social safety networks for the most vulnerable staff and students (printed educational resources, digital devices, Internet data, cash transfers, food distribution, or child care, etc.). SCENARIO 1: School starts with full attendance by students, whilst rigorous measures are put in place to protect all school stakeholders’ health.  teaching-learning-assessment process

CHALLENGES PROPOSED SOLUTIONS PRIORITY SUPPORT NEEDS PREMISES, TIMETABLE, NUMBER OF STUDENTS

Flexible timetable, smaller groups/classes, reorganised Amending Insufficient classrooms/spaces: LEN. Article 63 - number of room for a. preschool: smaller students (reduce up to 6 children in a group, preferably the same the number of groups of throughout the day, but changing the group membership children/students children/ during the school year. Alternative: number of children in in class/group, students; group is determined pro rata to the available floor area considering that (size of classrooms); possibly, fewer periods for each the enrolment Impossibility figures have preschool group, from 8:00 to 11:00 at the latest, with already been to teach all disinfection breaks every 50 minutes; maybe giving up approved). classes in full-day schooling and switching to regular school days, the same to strictly deliver teaching-learning process; hybrid groups Financial support time interval for all-day and regular hours school, to reduce the number for buying with smaller of preschool students in the afternoon programme; containers for classes/ b. primary and lower secondary: schools that are groups. maximum 15 students per class; short of space. c. high school: maximum 18 students per class (considering that the enrolment plan has already been approved, two classes may be reorganised into three, so that the number of classes would increase but not double; School autonomy - freedom of decision, considering the available school spaces, number of usual school shifts etc. Scholls that are short of space could relocate some classes to surplus spaces in other schools or use modern containers. Organise kindergartens’ outdoors spaces to carry out more activities in open air (centres/areas/zones/corners may be set up to stimulate various areas of children’s development. Mandatory to carry out two outdoors activities every day, depending on the weather conditions. Suspend the “Different School” programme at all education levels.

PERSONNEL

Insufficient - identify and employ extra teaching, non-teaching, support Appropriate extra teaching, and medical staff; financial resources non-teaching, to pay teaching support and - identify back-up human resources for possible situations staff, given that the medical staff. where teaching/auxiliary staff get sick; number of classes/ groups could double. - access to a data base of trainee teachers to fill-in some teaching positions, as well as partnerships to employ (where doable) students to support teaching activities (their support could be called upon when a school is short of staff; involvement of volunteers, tutors, mentors); PERSONNEL

- assign hygiene/school nurses to assess any shortcomings in Financial resources the observance of health rules and help with monitoring the allocated for all children/students/staff health status and with implementing categories of the rules proposed by the PHDs and relevant ministries. personnel that will be supplemented. New rules on higher education and pedagogical high school students’ teaching experience stints. CURRICULUM, TEACHING-LEARNING-ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

- Organise and deliver remedial and catch-up activities The Ministry of for children/students who did not attend online/distance Education and learning. Research to develop sets of procedures - Each school to introduce differentiated/customised regulating teaching- curriculum accommodations, in consultation with the learning-assessment teaching staff - perhaps designate a school workgroup in the current for this purpose (the accommodations shall take into context. account the differences caused by unequal access to online learning in March - June. particularisation - preschool education: develop or provide teachers with references/resources for friendly teaching approaches, adequate to the current situation, limiting interactions/prolonged contact between children (A set of resources dedicated to preschools, for a safe and friendly approach to children's return to kindergarten, is provided to professionals by CEDP Step by Step).

- Collaborative teaching in schools, where there are several classes per academic year: particularisation - primary education - example 1: in a school with 90 pupils in the preparatory class, 6 teachers can teach between 8:00-10:00 hours - 30’ classes, 10’ breaks; between 11:00-13:00, the same algorithm for the 3rd grade); - example 2: preparatory class: 30’ class, 5’ break - the 4th grade ends at 10:20/10:50, as per the number of hours in the framework plan. The interval 11:00-12:00 may be allocated for disinfecting and ventilating classrooms; then, from 12:30, lower secondary may start, with 40’ classes.

- Mandatory outdoors activities every day, others than physical education and sports (at all levels of education, at subject matters where possible). CURRICULUM, TEACHING-LEARNING-ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

- Authorities should support technological high schools, for pupils to undergo the necessary internships in the hotels and restaurants industry, to gain professional experience; otherwise, the peril is that students might not benefit from such training that is vital for their future.

- Together with the school staff and counsellor, develop guidelines for identifying and preventing bullying, discrimination and stigmatisation of students and teachers in relation to COVID-19.

 safety and hygiene

CHALLENGES PROPOSED SOLUTIONS PRIORITY SUPPORT NEEDS

Extremely Before the beginning of the school year, PHD to issue PHD and relevant ministries difficult to an opinion/present its rules and authorise the school to develop rules and ensure safety based on a verification process - schools should methodologies to ensure and health not start operating based on principals’ assuming hygiene and sanitary conditions responsibility. The aspects to be remedied shall requirements are met. for all the be first notified to the principals; only after such personnel notification will sanctions be applied, should the Local councils to and children/ school fail to comply with the rules. allocate sufficient funds, students. in correlation with Organise and carry out visits by public health experts the issues found and and/or government agencies before the start of the recommendations made school year, to ensure that it is safe to open the by the PHDs. schools. Clear procedures Where possible, mobilise the support of local clinics regulating all school or county/local health authorities for the schools. actions/activities - based on rules issued by the Identify a system or a mechanism for collecting PHDs and national specific data on COVID-19, including suspected and authorities. confirmed cases among students and personnel (regulating the schools’ access to such data that The Ministry of Education PHDs have), with a view to ensuring inter-sectoral and research and the interventions at maximum efficiency and speed. Ministry of Health to enter partnerships aimed at running awareness campaigns focused on the observance of hygiene rules and standards in schools.  school-family-community relations

CHALLENGES PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

Attitude of some parents who, for various - parents to accept quarantine when community reasons (related to their perception transmitted disease cases appear; regarding the COVID-19 context, but also - prohibit parents’ access to the school/kindergarten; to their overall attitude to schooling their procedures for dropping off and picking up children to/ children), do not support and encourage from kindergarten without entering the school premises; school attendance of preschool and - reduce the number of out-of-school extracurricular school pupils. activities to reduce the number of possible contacts from At least in the case of preschool children, outside the family; difficulty in managing parents’ coming - ensure that all the rules, standards and procedures newly in and going out of kindergartens/ developed to ensure children’s/students’ and staff’s health schools whilst complying with all safety and safety are communicated to the families. and hygiene requirements.

SCENARIO 2: School starts with a blended/hybrid teaching system (taking turns, half a class comes to school and half attends online), whilst rigorous measures are put in place to protect all school stakeholders’ health.

 teaching-learning-assessment process

CHALLENGES PROPOSED SOLUTIONS PRIORITY SUPPORT NEEDS PREMISES, TIMETABLE, NUMBER OF STUDENTS

- reconfigure the - Encourage the participation of all preschool and Regulations cohorts for each school students in a minimum number of activities on preparing educational cycle proposed by the teacher, and develop an online timetables, considering the attendance taking procedure; recording pupils’ shortage of space - Online teaching shall be asynchronous; absences (including and already oversized - Flexible timetable and reorganisation of the from online classes/groups; learning space (preschool education - up to 6 activities). - develop flexible or depending on the available space, primary timetables that do not education - up to 12 students in a class, lower Financial and overburden teachers; secondary - up to 15 students in class, high school technical support for - reorganise learning - up to 18 students per class, preferably the same access to learning spaces such as to throughout the day); platforms. limit contact between example: for the primary cycle, if the class individuals and avoid duration is reduced to 30’ and two shifts learning Schools to be the use of too many is permitted, this becomes a viable solution, even provided with sets teaching materials where space is insufficient. Thus, preparatory of instructions that cannot be easily classes’ timetable - 4th grade ends at 10:20/10:50, on monitoring disinfected after their as per the number of hours in the framework truancy in distance, individual use. plan. The interval 11:00-12:00 may be allocated for online and disinfecting and ventilating classrooms, and from blended learning 12:30 the remaining half of the students may come in emergency to class. The school day ends at 16:00 hours; situations. CHALLENGES PROPOSED SOLUTIONS PRIORITY SUPPORT NEEDS PREMISES, TIMETABLE, NUMBER OF STUDENTS

- One option for allocating learning time by educational cycle: one day primary cycle, one day lower secondary. Online teaching is delivered on the day when not in school. Two arguments: it is much easier to monitor students’ attendance and teaching efforts is coherent; - On the day when students stay home, online activities are delivered via a platform selected by the school, with direct interaction (type ZOOM) and indirect (type GOOGLE CLASSROOM). Online activities must be synchronous and asynchronous, including monitoring students’ learning activities and feedback from teachers; - The timetable and activities shall be organised so that, should for objective, technical reasons, a student miss an online activity this would not impact on his/her progress.

This scenario is not seen as a viable solution for pupils in the preparatory, 1st and 2nd grades, since it generates educational disruptions and difficulties in children's group habituation. Moreover, this is the age when literacy and numeracy skills are formed (writing, reading, calculating), and the online environment cannot efficiently support such learning. Still, one possible solution could be to develop an optimal timetable and consider it on the principle all pupils come to school on day one (split in two groups, shift one and shift two) and all stay home learning online on day 2.

- Priority to attending face-to-face learning should be given to students who live closer to the school, and those who live more than 20 km away and who need accommodation to be provided with online courses. Given the measures that must be observed in school dormitories, the number of accommodated students will decrease by half, and the cost of food services will increase significantly. Meals will be served at the canteen, observing physical distancing (2m) between 07.00-08.30 (depending on the number of residents) - this will require good management to control class tardiness. - Recording absences from online classes. This should create a mandatory class attendance regulatory framework. - For students lacking access to technology, the school may opt for face-to-face classes, observing the fairness principle, as a solution until the remediation of the family situation. PERSONNEL

Insufficient Employ or second for a limited period of time sufficient Amending teaching, non- medical staff. Employ or second for a limited period continuing teaching, support of time janitors from other institutions, not necessarily teacher training and medical staff from schools. methodology.

Insufficient - Provide teachers with training programmes for enhancing Make it mandatory and uneven digital skills and supporting curriculum accommodations for all teachers digitalisation level for online teaching for all, and in particular for disabled to take online and/or SEN, children. teaching training Need for training - For preschool education, develop or provide teachers programmes and in curriculum with references/resources for friendly teaching obtain the relevant accommodations approaches, adequate to the current situation, limiting certificates (with no and blended interactions/prolonged contact between children; focus on credits, but teaching/learning/ - Primary education teachers willing to work two shifts, on participation and assessment including afternoons; acquiring distance - Paying teachers according to the number of teaching teaching/learning hours (e.g. if a class of 30 is split into three cohorts of 10, skills, combining the number of teaching hours triples, plus the payment digital and for online teaching hours); classroom learning, - Reimburse the cost of certain computer applications and online formative (e.g. advanced Zoom) bought by teachers to deliver assessment). online teaching; - Develop efficient courses, with hands-on examples Financial support of activities in blended learning (individual accessing for such training of programmes as preferred by each teacher should courses (supplement be supplemented with consistent training sessions in appropriations each school, which would ensure consistent and owned for this chapter of teaching practices across schools). schools’ budgets).

- Protect teaching and auxiliary staff’s rights and Provide working conditions (considering inter alia: their family supplementary commitments and personal risk factors; possibility to wages funds travel safely to and from school; capacity to provide required to pay a minimum number of daily training hours; risks school personnel associated to each job and workplace: teaching, canteen, who work the extra dormitory/boarding house, other administrative and care hours necessary to personnel). deliver face to face - Teachers may experience psychological and socio- and online teaching. emotional stress caused by prolonged isolation, so that they should be provided with permanent psychological and socio-emotional evaluations, support and counselling, to develop their stress management skills and coping mechanisms or should be referred to experts in individual cases where necessary. - Prioritising psychological and social-emotional support for vulnerable and at-risk teachers, including the elderly, those with pre-existing medical conditions or those disadvantaged by lower resources and higher burdens caused by taking on extra shifts or delivering blended teaching. PERSONNEL

- Reduce teachers’ workload by Provide teachers and schools simplifying or reducing the paperwork with the funds required for the and other administrative tasks. procurement of the hardware and - Adapt teachers’ performance software needed for teaching in evaluations, considering the impact this scenario. of the crisis on the staff roles and the changes in teaching practices caused by Protocols and procedures for physical distancing measures. risk-based assessment of school - Explore ways to recognise and personnel to identify the most reward teachers and other personnel vulnerable to infections (e.g. in performance evaluations for the elderly, with comorbidities, extraordinary working conditions they with family members who were operate in and the skills they acquire COVID-19 positive etc.) during the COVID-19 crisis. Provide psychological and - Provide free, dedicated training to socio-emotional evaluation of IT experts / system engineers / IT&C teachers. teachers to acquire/upgrade the skills required to improve educational Adapt the new annual teacher platforms used for online learning. performance assessment methodologies and standards, considering the specifics of blended teaching-learning- assessment.

Develop national mechanisms in support of school personnel, such as mentoring schemes, networks of schools, online communities of practice or online courses, throughout the school year.

CURRICULUM, TEACHING-LEARNING-ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

- Lack of quality - Accommodations to the curriculum (by condensation - Methodological hardware for /prioritisation) and assessment methodologies, support and transmitting live to based on the revised school timetables and the regulations on students learning instructions issued by the central and local authorities planning and online. (in preschool education, consistent curriculum designing blended design for all children, irrespective whether face to learning activities, face or online / distance learning); by education cycles, levels and subject - Plans for accelerated learning and remedial matters. education for students with learning difficulties, in - Prioritise and adapt particular disadvantaged or who have suffered more programmes, with significant learning disruption. a focus on basic academic skills. CURRICULUM, TEACHING-LEARNING-ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

- The risk exists of - The initial learning assessment which took place - Regulations and students overstrain from home, in March - June, must be followed by rules on filming and implicit failure, flexible teaching-learning approaches (accelerated lessons in school (for if the notions and remedial education strategies) to meet the students who watch not taught in the needs of all students. the classes from previous year will be - Continuing online learning on a platform shared home in real time). delivered alongside by the entire school, ensuring transparency of the ones of this year. educational and assessment process. - Teaching guides - Some students and - Videos shot / prepared by teachers and live on remedial and even some teachers, sessions to take place in school. accelerated education in particular in - Teaching materials for demonstrative experiments in the context of rural areas, have may be borrowed from school if the teacher delivers blended learning. insufficient or poor online classes from his/her home. abilities to access - Under NO circumstances will the parents / - New regulations and use electronic students’ agreement be required to enter a mark on examinations, educational in the roll. adapted to the resources for online - Tests may be organised with half a class (first in blended/hybrid learning. alphabetical order) in one period and with the other scenario. half in the following period, with different topics - The infrastructure that cover the same skills and are equally difficult. - Legal provisions on in most schools is - Collaborative teaching in schools, where there are the suspension of the inadequate for online several classes per academic year: national programme classes. example, lower secondary education: teachers “A Different School” - Occurrence / of one discipline share the subject matter for each in the academic year intensification class, prepare online materials (without overlaps), 2020-2021. in students and and the face-to-face sessions are used for digesting/ teachers of specific understanding/assessment. - Supplement schools’ diseases caused by budgets to buy IT many hours in front - For this year, suspend the “Different School” equipment (including of the computer programme to gain time for catching up on subject integrated audio- (obesity, spine matters. video systems to conditions, eyes - Carry out rapid and continuing assessments of film the lessons and conditions etc.) students’ progress and wellbeing, and tackling broadcast them live fairness and inclusion gaps and threats. to students attending - Together with the school staff and counsellor, class from home). develop guidelines for identifying and preventing bullying, discrimination and stigmatisation of students and teachers in relation to COVID-19. - The Ministry of - Supply the schools with integrated video-audio Education and equipment, to provide optimal conditions for live Research to access broadcasting of classes to students attending funds for the online. Equip the schools with video cameras (not digitalisation of surveillance) required for recording teaching and schools. learning. - Provide students and teachers with the devices required for online education. - Include in IT&C classes topics related to the use of devices in online classes. Free training provision for teachers to improve their virtual teaching skills, knowledge of developing electronic materials etc. CURRICULUM, TEACHING-LEARNING-ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

- School system engi- - Access funds for digitalisation of schools, neers or IT experts may Internet connections and procure digital learning not have the skills requ- packages. (The current monthly Internet plans ired to develop / im- do not allow schools to broadcast lessons in real prove online learning time, therefore, new contracts must be entered platforms, and thus be into with specialized companies to provide each unable to support those level of each school building with high speed who might ask for help. fibre-optic connections, allowing real time information flows).

- Provide students with psychological and medical support to mitigate the health impacts of long-term exposure to and interaction with various types of devices.

 safety and hygiene

CHALLENGES PROPOSED SOLUTIONS PRIORITY SUPPORT NEEDS

- lack of Before the beginning of the school - Local Councils to allocate experience year, PHD to issue an opinion and sufficient funds, in correlation to the and standards authorise the schools based on aspects found by the Public Health / rules / a verification process - schools Department. procedures should not start based on principals’ on the assuming responsibility. - Clear procedures regulating all measures to - Designate hygiene/school nurses school actions/activities - based be taken by to visit monthly and assess any on rules issued by the PHDs and schools in this shortcomings in the observance national authorities. context. of rules. - Develop specific health and security - Information guides, leaflets, posters protocols for the personnel, students promoting hygiene and safety rules and wider school community, to developed by category of audience guide physical distancing and risk- (for preschool children, pupils of prevention behaviours, supplemented various ages, parents and school by guides that are to be presented to personnel) available in schools. and discussed with all employees, students and their families. - Financial support to hire - Organise and carry out visits healthcare experts to advice school by public health experts and/or management on the applicability of government agencies before the certain health and hygiene norms, start of the school year, to ensure depending on the specifics of each that it is safe to reopen the schools. community and school / school Where possible, mobilise the support building. of local clinics or county/local health authorities for the schools. CHALLENGES PROPOSED SOLUTIONS PRIORITY SUPPORT NEEDS

- Identify a system or a mechanism for - Online assistance, possibly a collecting specific data on COVID-19, hotline, from healthcare experts including suspected and confirmed cases to teachers, management teams among students and personnel. and parents on health and - Possibly, set up teams of comprising hygiene issues associated to certain numbers of teachers (depending children's school attendance. on the number of buildings) to check how students interact on hallways and courtyard during recesses.

 school-family-community relations

CHALLENGES PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

Poor IT resources and parents’ low - Enter partnerships with the parents to continue / levels of digital knowledge in many expand / support the learning of children in the family, families. to the extent permitted by working hours, number of children, online learning abilities and knowledge, willingness to support children’s home learning. In preschool education: possible legal sanctions if parents fail to deliver on their pledges related to children's participation in activities online. - Prohibit parents’ access in school / kindergarten. Ban activities involving the presence of the parents. - Ensure that key information is passed on to parents, caregivers and families (through posters, e-mails, leaflets, SMS, WhatsApp etc.) on the preparations made by the school to enforce the hygiene and sanitation protocols and on the new applicable rules. - Ensure that parents are informed about the new provisions of the regulation and the procedures laid down by the school to secure a safe, healthy inclusive and quality learning environment. - Eliminate the parent’s agreement on sequences of the teaching process (e.g. assessment) or restrictions on online delivery vs face-to-face delivery. - Considering how easy it is for students to use the online learning time to access various websites for entertainment purposes rather than for learning, it is critical to optimise communication with families, possibly by setting up WhatsApp groups (where non-existent) so that the school may inform them about their children's daily schedules. SCENARIO 3: School starts exclusively online, using digital learning platforms and resources (alternatively, through other forms of distance learning, where access to technology is limited and Internet connectivity is poor)

 teaching-learning-assessment process

CHALLENGES PROPOSED SOLUTIONS PERSONNEL, TIMETABLE

- Unequal and insufficient development of - Redesign the duration of an online class and teachers’ skills required for online teaching- categories of activities proposed to students. learning-assessment; poor capacity to access - Form groups of experts to develop guidelines digital resources and platforms, to develop and methodologies with concrete and efficient digital learning materials and use attractive and examples of online teaching-learning-assessment motivating teaching methods. for various ages and disciplines. - It is impossible for a teacher to deliver optimal - Train teachers to reconfigure the entire online courses when the other adult supporting educational practice in online context. the family does not have access to technical - Amend the relevant laws to grant unemployment unemployment benefits and the teacher has to benefits to certain categories of employees. deliver online training while taking care of their - Teachers should have free access to online own child at the same learning resources / materials developed at national level (digital manuals, digital auxiliary - Preschool teachers’ training includes no materials) to provide equal chances to all students, elements of online teaching. Poor digital skills in particular to the disadvantaged (in rural areas, of kindergarten teachers and lack of concrete ethnic minorities, with special education needs). examples of using efficient methods.

CURRICULUM, TEACHING-LEARNING-ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

It is impossible to provide exclusively online - Selecting from the curriculum such topics education in kindergarten, given the age and that may be learned online, also considering the need to mainly develop social-emotional the possibility of minimal support from some skills, which require socialisation, direct parents or lack thereof. contact with the adult and peers. - Access to recognised, official online - Poor access to online learning for a significant platforms that are easy to use by the students number of the school population (caused (and parents, in the case of preschool children, either by lack of financial resources, by the given the need for direct contact between the large number of children in a family, or by pre-schooler through the educator). the parents working online from home and - Procurement of technological resources occupying the device available at home). Rural government programmes or European funds, areas exist where Internet connections are so that all students and teachers might have poor or non-existent, which does not provide access to this type of learning. equal education chances to all students and - High energy consumption and data traffic leads to deepening the already existing gaps. involve increased electricity and Internet costs - Home learning conditions are different from that are covered out-off-pocket by parents and household to household; both students and teachers: supplementary financial resources teachers have noted that the presence of other must be allocated for such expenditure. family members is a distraction, stress factor. Also, other family members (siblings, parents, children etc.) working on line at the same limits access to devices. CURRICULUM, TEACHING-LEARNING-ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

- Possible copyright infringement by - Mandatory participation of preschool/school the free circulation of educational students in a minimum number of activities materials developed by teachers and proposed by the teacher, and developing an online their reluctance to be filmed in their own attendance taking procedure. homes. - Access to learning platforms or other distance - Quality and efficiency of teaching are learning resources must be appended with printed significantly reduced in the absence of learning kits for children from disadvantaged areas the classroom-specific and school context / families without access to online resources. interhuman relations. - Many SEN students are not Regarding the preschool level: recommended the use of devices, given - Simplifying the preschool curriculum to compel the the treats of their disabilities/dysfunctions children to carry out a minimum required number and specific support needs. of educational activities per day, which should not - Lack of human interaction will lead in involve too much technology or parents’ support. time to alienation. - Many of the outcomes listed in the early education - Major risk to students and teachers’ curriculum (official document) will be impossible health posed by the large number of to be covered in distance learning, so the teaching hours spent in front of computers or process might not be up to expectations. other types of devices. - We can anticipate that some parents, mainly those - Sciences cannot be efficiently taught from all-day schooling, will be discouraged by exclusively online - they need applications this form of organisation and keep their children and permanent interaction. home. If in the autumn the same conditions will - In the case of high schools with boarding be maintained for the operation of kindergartens and canteen premises, this scenario as in the summer, some parents will be even less would mean unemployment for the prepared to bring their children there. canteen and dormitory personnel.

BOARDING SERVICES IN THE HYBRID SCENARIO

CHALLENGES PROPOSED SOLUTIONS PERSONNEL, TIMETABLE

• Lodging not more than 4 students in a - Call a meeting with the parents that applied for room that can accommodate 7 will limit boarding in the school dormitory to agree who can the number of boarding students. For this afford and accept to have their children in private reason, children who live far from the lodging. Thus, the students accommodated in the school and cannot afford private lodging dormitory may be selected, based on their families’ might drop out of school. resources, such as to limit the number of lodgers in • Lack of toilets in each room (one each room. bathroom is available on each floor) could - Schools to develop procedures on boarding house/ lead to interactions between students, dormitory behaviour, strict scheduling of personal favouring infection hotbeds. hygiene times by room, including shower access etc. • It is difficult for one person alone to - All students and parents to receive training on the permanently check on and monitor the behaviour rules while on boarding house/dormitory students (pedagogue or night supervisor), premises and sign that they accept such rules, to as currently allocated per shift. facilitate monitoring by the supervisors. CHALLENGES PROPOSED SOLUTIONS PERSONNEL, TIMETABLE

• In the period 2-12 of June PHD to identify middle-of-the-way solutions on the requirements when students participated in imposed on boarding schools, more realistic and adapted to the Baccalaureate preparation, PHD objective situation of such premises. imposed restrictive conditions - Town halls to provide the money required for procuring such that could only be met by 2-3 materials. boarding schools from Bacau. - Controlling boarding students 24/24 is almost impossible and • Must higher costs for procuring somewhat superfluous given that the youths have been interacting hygiene and maintenance out of school throughout the summer holiday (in fact, from the materials. lifting of the state of emergency) and will continue to do so. They • Lack of any control on students’ can only be reminded during all, and in particular in educational/ traveling to and from school in counselling classes all the hygiene rules that they must observe. weekends, when they go home. Through frequency, repetition and verification of compliance with Lack of any control on students the rules, the students may form habits that they may then in turn maintaining the physical disseminate in their families and communities. distance over 24 hours or on the - Put out calls for proposals of internationally funded projects to interactions and contacts they obtain funds for renovating boarding houses, considering that the have while at home. schools could not access directly such funds exclusively allocated for the rehabilitation of physical facilities, modernise premises etc.

CANTEEN SERVICES

CHALLENGES PROPOSED SOLUTIONS PERSONNEL, TIMETABLE

• Usually, serving food in canteens raises no special Each school to develop procedures issues and challenges, because spaces are ample, and for the canteen operation and use, where there is less room smaller series of students may adapted to the schools’ objective be organised, such as to keep the safety distance. conditions. • The lower number of students present in the boarding home at one time will implicitly lead to increased cost - Subsidies to cover higher cost of of meals. meals. • Same as in other chapters, the major challenge is associated to the significantly higher amounts of money allocated to the procurement of cleaning, hygiene etc. materials. Document developed by: Ioan Cristinel Albu, Lower Secondary School Gaiceana Carmen Antohe, National College "Costache Negri", Targu Ocna Adina Roxana Bastea, School no. 2, Targu Ocna Lavinia Baisan, National Pedagogical College “Stefan cel Mare”, Bacau Sorin Bostan, Lower Secondary School “Constantin Platon”, Bacau Constantin Ciofu, Technological College "Grigore Antipa", Bacau Amalia Diaconu, CJRAE Bacau Oana Maria Droiman, National College “V. Alecsandri”, Bacau Ana-Maria Egarmin, I.S.J. Bacau Anca Stefania Herghea, Lower Secondary School ”Miron Costin”, Bacau Daniela Marian, Lower Secondary School "Stefan cel Mare", Zemes Tatiana Namolosanu, Theoretical High School "Henri Coanda", Bacau Luminița Prisecaru, Lower Secondary School Frumoasa Elena Rosca, Lower Secondary School “Alecu Russo”, Bacau Simona Andreea Sova, Technological College for Communications “N. V. Karpen”, Bacau Alina Crina Terinte, Lower Secondary School Nr. 1, Sanduleni Maria Lucica Ursachi Bobei, Technological College “Al. Vlahuța”, Podu Turcului Alina Zabrauțanu, Lower Secondary School Nr. 1, Sarata

Coordinators: Cristina Badea, Education Officer UNICEF in Romania Luminița Costache, Education Specialist UNICEF in Romania