CSIF demands that masks remain mandatory throughout the school environment. The new Royal Decree 115/2022, of February 8, which modifies the mandatory use of masks during the health crisis situation caused by COVID-19, creates confusion in educational centers and the new situation generated should be clarified.
The confusion is evidenced by the complaints and queries received from educational centers. At all times we have prioritized the safety of the educational community and we view with concern a new regulation that creates uncertainty about the use or non-use of masks in the playgrounds, especially when the vaccination of children under twelve years of age is not progressing as quickly as it should.
In the context of school playgrounds, it is very difficult to maintain a safe distance of 1.5 meters between boys and girls, which poses a risk to the health of both students and the teachers in charge. In addition, in this circumstance, the teaching staff would be, once again, overloaded with work when trying to ensure that these distances are maintained, once the mandatory use of masks has been removed.
In this sense, from CSIF we demand that masks remain mandatory throughout the school environment and that both the Ministry of Education and the different educational administrations do not once again unload the responsibility on the teaching staff. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have demanded clarity and homogeneity in the protocols, always attending to sanitary criteria and taking into account that the priority is to safeguard the health of teachers and students.
Jesús Manuel Díaz Lorente. CSIF Delegate
