A return to school in Mallorca "more normal" than last year

The third school year to be affected by Covid. | Jaume Morey

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma10/09/2021 12:54

The return to school on Friday was as normal as could be expected for what is the third school year to be affected by Covid. Although health risks remain, the vaccination of students over the age of 12 and of 90% of teachers, plus the experience gained during the last school year lead parents to trust that schools are safe places.

At nine o'clock on Friday, the only thing that affected the normality of the return was heavy rain in parts of Mallorca. In all, 173,482 students from infants to high schools are enrolled for the 2021-2022 school year in the Balearics. Preventive measures are being maintained. Masks are obligatory and there is a staggering of the start of the school year - up to five days for schools with more than 500 pupils.

The classroom numbers have returned to what they were pre-Covid. There will therefore no longer be small groups with fewer pupils per classroom. Social distance has been reduced from 1.5 metres to 1.2.

President Armengol and the education minister, Martí March, were at Ses Cases Noves primary school in Marratxi. The president welcomed the fact that the Balearics have the highest proportion of the school population vaccinated against Covid - 72% of ages 15 to 19 and 54% of ages 12 to 16 years have had both jabs.

Armengol thanked the entire educational community for its efforts during the last school and reserved special thanks for the students. "They knew how to adapt in an excellent way in order to be able to continue their education, despite the difficulties of doing so because of the pandemic."