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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 /