For three weeks now, students in La Línea have been absent from school due to the incidence of the coronavirus in the city and parents’ fear of contagion. However, the decision will have consequences and the schools have begun to inform parents that either they justify their absences with a medical report or the absenteeism protocol will be activated.
In fact, some schools have already warned families that this month they may receive notifications from Tutoría or from the Head of Studies. In this sense, it is reported that, in the third week of non-attendance, the centre will need a medical report to be able to endorse the absence and register the pupil as ‘vulnerable Covid’.
In addition, they make it clear that the written statements referring to the fact that attendance is a health risk in the current situation are not valid, being necessary a “medical recommendation” with its “corresponding report” to justify the absence,
Likewise, the schools make it clear that the School Absenteeism Protocols will only be activated “if the families do not respond to the school’s requests, if they do not present the documentation required by the regulations or if they have an open file in Social Services”.
Since January, more than 90% of students in La Línea have been absent from school due to the high incidence rates that have been recorded, although this rate has been decreasing throughout the month of February.
Parents and even the schools had been supporting the idea of switching to e-learning in the case of municipalities with more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, a proposal that has not been considered by the Junta, which has at all times opted for face-to-face teaching, pointing out that the highest percentage of infections have not been recorded in classrooms, but in family gatherings.
