From 2 June school buildings could also be used for educational purposes; creches and nursery schools will return to “normal operations” from Monday, while those in the capital from 2 June, the Minister of State for Public Education at the Ministry of Human Capacities said at the Sunday online press conference of the Operational Group responsible for the containment of the coronavirus epidemic.

Zoltán Maruzsa stressed that in schools digital education outside the classroom will remain in effect until the end of the school year, 15 June; the end of the school year will not change.

However, from 2 June – if institutions and teachers deem it necessary – it will be possible to organise in schools consultations in small groups and individual preparations in order to reinforce the body of knowledge acquired in recent months and to help students who may have fallen behind. Institutions are free to decide and are allowed to organise consultations even for specific subjects; at the same time, the number of attendees per small group has not been fixed, it can be flexibly determined subject to local specificities, he added.

He stressed that from 2 June until 26 June, supervision for children will have to be organised in every school. As a result, the range of institutions involved in child supervision will be extended as so far students have only been received in designated institutions, while from 2 June all students will be allowed to return to their own institutions.

The Minister of State for Public Education also said those who previously attended schools at a distance from their homes will have to be received by local schools nearest to their homes.

During the rest of the school year, between 2 and 15 June, schools can organise primarily programmes supporting learning and helping students catch up with their peers. At the same time, from 16 June, the end of the school year until 26 June, teachers will be allowed to start preparing for the next school year and to organise camps and thematic days, he pointed out.

In the context of creches and nursery schools, Mr Maruzsa highlighted that it is not compulsory to take children to these institutions. The epidemic situation qualifies as a satisfactory reason if parents want their children to remain at home.

According to the information of the Minister of State for Public Education, in the past few days, some ten per cent of children have participated in child supervision at nursery schools, and demand has recently increased daily.

Mr Maruzsa also highlighted that according to the government decree released on Friday, the deadline for the submission by public education institutions of applications for the modification of their operating licences – if necessitated by reorganisations – will change from 31 May to 30 June.

Another government decree regarding the grading of teachers was also released on Friday. The Minister of State for Public Education recalled that on 1 April, due to the epidemic, they had suspended the grading of teachers and had postponed it to the autumn term. However, they have received a number of requests primarily from interns with fixed-term contracts and pregnant teachers for whom the postponed date is not convenient. Therefore, they have worked out a separate procedure for the individuals concerned; they will be able to request the completion of their grading until 10 June, Mr Maruzsa said.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister / MTI)