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Students will soon return to school. The Ministry of Education and Culture states in its press release that it has been prepared for possible changes in the coronavirus through temporary changes in the law.
If contact teaching cannot be arranged safely, exceptional teaching arrangements may be temporarily transferred to basic education by a decision of the teaching provider. The assessment of the safety of contact teaching is made together with the regional communicable disease authorities on the basis of a decision issued under the Communicable Diseases Act.
It is a good idea to organize the premises more loosely than usual and to avoid or reduce unnecessary physical close contacts. Early childhood education should be organized where possible so that groups are not mixed or combined.
This can be done in exceptional circumstances
Children starting school or early childhood education and their carers have the opportunity to get acquainted with the activities in advance, as long as space and hygiene are taken care of. An important toy may be brought along and taken home at the end of the day.
For example, face-to-face and distance learning can be alternated so that the groups are in distance learning on alternate weeks. Exceptional teaching arrangements do not apply to pupils in grades 1 to 3 or to pupils with a special support decision, extended compulsory education or preparatory education.
Pupils are entitled to school meals, support for learning and schooling, study guidance and study social benefits during exceptional arrangements.
The Vocational Training Act has been temporarily amended with regard to evidence. If, due to the corona epidemic, the demonstration of the skills and competences required by the parts of the degree cannot be realized in real work situations and work processes, the skills and competences can be demonstrated by performing other practical tasks that correspond as closely as possible to real work situations and processes.
In addition, the competence shown on the screen can be supplemented with other competence assessment more flexibly than at present.
The right of a university student to study can be extended
In higher education, a student may register to be absent in the first academic year if he or she has been prevented from starting his or her studies due to an official order related to the epidemic or for any other serious reason related to the epidemic.
If studies are delayed due to teaching arrangements made by higher education institutions due to the epidemic, this will be taken into account when deciding on the extension of the right to study.