J. Vicente Negrete School started its first back-to-school cycle with considerable absence of children and educational staff. Photo: Courtesy.

Héctor Ruiz Mejía: With approximately 30 percent non-attendance of students and educational personnel, basic education schools in the municipality of Jocotepec returned to classes.

After it was announced (despite the worrying increase in cases of coronavirus by the omicron variant) that this Monday, January 17, basic education schools in Jalisco would return to one hundred percent of their capacity.

According to educational personnel, classes started with an average of 30 percent of non-attendance by students and teachers in the different schools in the municipality of Jocotepec.

Educational authorities, who preferred to remain anonymous, say the main reason why most of the children have not returned to classes is because their parents are sick.

Although it was not specified if they were Covid-19 positive, as stated by the interviewee who is a teacher at Jocotepec School, this first cycle of return to classes, after almost two years of distance education, started with 25 percent of students’ non-attendance and one child confirmed positive for the coronavirus.

Parents worried about contagions after Señor del Monte festivities.

The interviewee said one student who was sent home that same day has been the only child (so far) who has tested positive for Covid-19, «the situation is worrying and even more so after all the festivities that have taken place.» 

In addition, the teacher does not see the outlook for the next two weeks in a positive light, adding that «after the holidays the parents are the ones who are infecting the children,» she said.

On the other hand, the J. Vicente Negrete school began this first school year with a 30 percent absence of students, as well as 20 percent of the teaching staff being sick.

However, in order to protect the health of the entire educational community, without affecting the training and integral development of children and young people, the Jalisco State Government announced the implementation of the strategy «Covid-19 Random Test Application Model for Educational Personnel,» a measure to be carried out in schools that started on January 19.

This strategy consists of randomly applying tests to educational personnel in the 125 municipalities of the state, with the aim of detecting positive cases and isolating those affected in a timely manner, minimizing the risk of contagion and providing appropriate follow-up to each of them.

The Secretary of Health in the state, Dr. Fernando Petersen Aranguren, announced that, «in order to carry out these actions, the Secretary of Education of the Government of the State of Jalisco (SEJ) acquired 45 thousand tests that will be given y health personnel in the Health Regions of the state.

Translated by Sydney Metrick