The Serbian Teachers’ Union warned on Tuesday that schools can’t organize classes following the instructions issued by the Education Ministry.

 The Union said that a lot of things were said but nothing was agreed at an August 13 meeting with Education Minister Mladen Sarcevic. The minister told us that the instructions were not Scripture and could be changed, that headmasters were responsible for organization and classes, that classes would not continue online and that platforms would be used only if the number of new (coronavirus) cases increases, a press release said.

Minister Sarcevic said earlier that the recommendation from the authorities was for parents to send children in grades 1 to 4 to school as much as possible to “socialize and adapt to school environments”. “We drew up a lot of scenarios and one of the models includes classes in school for grades 1 to 4 with all prevention measures and splitting classes into two groups,” the minister is reported to have said. He said that elementary school children in grades 5 to 8 would attend classes in the afternoons.