How going back to school will be after the fifth wave of coronavirus

We’re only three weeks away from school, and this will be the third course in the pandemic. Education and the autonomies will agree next Wednesday the protocol that will be followed in the classrooms, although some of the main measures that will be adopted are already known.

There are more than 8 million students distributed in classrooms throughout Spain, both in primary and secondary education. In the classrooms all the desks will be occupied again.

The distance between the tables will be reduced to 1.2m, especially from secondary school, so that classes will no longer be duplicated and so many reinforcement teachers will not be hired. The bubble groups shall be maintained and fixed places shall be allocated in the dining rooms.

Vaccination is the key to a safer start to school, as half of the 12- to 19-year-olds have already received the first dose. As a result, many communities will relax other measures.

In Galicia classes will be resumed from 9 September and bubble groups of 4 students will be kept separate from each other both in the classes, at recess and in the dining room. Ventilation shall also be maintained. As a measure of relaxation, in this school year they will be able to share school and sport equipment, such as ropes or balls.

In Andalusia, the mask will continue to be compulsory within the educational centre, including recreation. Semi-presence from 3rd ESO will only be possible if the locality is in Phase 3 or 4 of incidence. In addition, the Covid coordinators will continue and more than 5,000 reinforcement teachers have been recruited for group splitting.

Finally, in Cataluña, the return to the classroom will be completely face-to-face. Students will have to continue washing their hands frequently, entrances and exits will be staggered and they will have to work in bubble groups. As a novelty, they can play on the playground always with mask and can be with different bubble groups. The temperature check will not be mandatory when they arrive at school.