According to Minister Šuplinska, remote learning has been extended for a while and cannot continue forever. Quality of education is beginning to suffer. Psycho-emotional strain on children, parents and teachers continues to grow, as several studies have suggested. President Levits and Minister Šuplinska exchanged views on how to gradually reopen schools and what safety measures are needed to fill classrooms with students again. Education Minister also explained how reopening of schools will happen in various regions according to criteria submitted to Cabinet of Ministers today. Schools in regions with fewer COVID-19 cases could be reopened soon.
Meeting also focused on computers for schools. Urgent upgrading of school IT infrastructure is one of the pressing needs, along with greater availability of smart devices for students. Ilga Šuplinska told Egils Levits that ministry is currently in the process of procuring the necessary devices and modern IT resources, which should be available to more students from September of 2021. President urged Minister to implement a more holistic approach to quality of remote education and underlined: ‘We need horizontal solutions for ensuring that every child can benefit from wholesome remote education. Ministries, local governments and social partners should all be involved. Every child should have access to necessary technologies for good remote education at school and at home.’
National research programme was another key topic of the meeting. More than 500 local researchers have joined the programme during COVID-19. Results need to be transferred to practice as quickly as possible, said President Levits. Transfer from research to practice must be systematic. He also urged Ministry of Education and Science to work with other ministries and stakeholders who could be interested in practical application and everyday use of such research results in manufacturing.
For example, one of the studies suggests to create a laboratory for testing protective clothing, while another is linked to gene sequencing and access to samples in biobanks. Another study offered community saliva testing solution, which has gone through the first round of testing already in Kuldīga area. Thanks to this solution, Kuldīga is the region with on of the lowest incidences of COVID-19. There are also studies about the psycho-emotional impact of remote learning on children that are important for planning the education process in future.
Ilga Šuplinska underlined that ministry is and will continue to support the national research programme. It will support submitted projects and provide adequate funding. One of the projects, which will be supported, involves monitoring of wastewater to determine the presence of COVID-19 in early stages of the pandemic.
On governance in higher education and research, President Levits underlined that he will continue to follow the implementation of reforms in higher education, which is a vital sector.