The new decision of the government board for students – Mehr news agency Iran and world’s news

Mehr news agency, community groupAlthough the amount of suspended particles in the air of Tehran has decreased during the recent days with the wind blowing, in general, the capital city and many big cities had more polluted days this year and schools were closed consecutive days for this reason. The closures that even raised the voices of students and their parents and the Minister of Education criticized the closures many times.

Mohammad Javad Ali Akbarian, senior education expert, believes; Closing schools is of no benefit and cyberspace is a minefield for children.

We cannot take the glass from someone and tell him to drink with a fork

This senior education expert stated that the atmosphere of the class and the presence of students together and establishing face-to-face communication with the instructor is very effective; He said: This event and this effect cannot really happen in the virtual space; We cannot take a glass from a person and expect him to drink water with a fork.

School is the beating heart of society

The Coordinating Council of Cultural Organizations of the country also issued a statement pointing out that the school is the beating heart of the society and it should not be stopped for many reasons, asking all the stakeholders and decision-makers to “close the schools.”

Yusuf Nouri, the Minister of Education, said some time ago: I saw the indicators of air pollution in the world and the Olympiad children did something in this field. In the world, they don’t close schools with an air pollution index of 150. Of course, the student’s health is our first priority and principle, but not to close with a pollution index of 150.

In the last 4 months, schools were open for about one and a half months and were closed many times due to various reasons, including snow and blizzard, air pollution, etc. This is despite the fact that students have been deprived of receiving the minimum face-to-face education for two years due to Corona, and this issue brought them with various challenges.

Now, considering the educational challenges, a plan seems to be in the works to change the air pollution index to close schools. A change that has supporters and opponents.

Closing schools is not due to pollution removal / We are planning to change the standards a little

It was on the third of Bahman this year that Ahmad Vahidi, on the sidelines of the governors’ meeting, in response to a question about closing schools due to air pollution, said: Closing schools is not for removing pollution, but for the health of our children. There is a decree that specifies at what level of pollution, schools should be closed. The emergency groups of the provinces are forced to decide to close based on this resolution.

He added: In any case, this issue led us to determine a new proposal for the government with the help of the environmental organization to slightly change these standards so that it is not necessary to close our schools in this situation.

He was the proposer of the plan of the Ministry of Education

However, Ali Selajgeh, head of the Environmental Protection Organization, said in response to this plan: “This plan and no proposal about the issue of pollution have not been proposed by the Environmental Organization.” We are only doing and following up the scientific measures of this issue.

He added: School closures have become one of the country’s concerns because since the beginning of October, students have gone to schools for less than 50 days. This issue has a fundamental impact on the education and infrastructure of the country. In addition to its destructive effects, students in cyberspace do not learn the necessary points scientifically. Therefore, the Ministry of Education sponsored this work and proposed and raised this issue.

Closing schools has nothing to do with the environment / the Cabinet should decide

The head of the Environmental Protection Organization emphasized and noted: the Ministry of Health and Medicine, the Environmental Protection Organization and the Meteorological Organization have their own indicators. Closing schools has nothing to do with the environment, and the cabinet of ministers must make the necessary decisions.

He continued: The Council of Ministers of 2017 made the necessary decisions for the pollution indicators and closures based on them. They can change it now.

The environment is in favor of the plan

While agreeing to this plan, Selajgeh explained: In many countries, even when the index reaches 200 to 300, they do not shut down the country. Therefore, the indicators should be in such a way that the closure of kindergartens, elementary schools, older ages and even for people with certain diseases are determined differently from each other. The current range should be changed so that it does not close when the index reaches 150 countries. The range of air pollution indicators should be flexible.

Closing schools should be a last resort

Selajgeh added: The way we have gone has been a mistake and it is not time for trial and error anymore. The environment can no longer bear it and with the closure of schools, education and the country’s infrastructure are being destroyed, so the last option should be closure, while now the first option is closure.

Investigating the change of air pollution index in the meeting of the government board

However, Yousef Nouri, the Minister of Education, is paying attention to this issue and announced last week: The change in the air pollution index to close schools will probably be reviewed on Sunday, 16th of Bahman, in the meeting of the government board.

Any kind of change in the instructions is done according to the opinion of the Ministry of Health

In an interview with Mehr reporter, Zohreh Ibaadi, Deputy Director of Supervision and Monitoring of the Environmental Protection Organization of Tehran province, said about the change in air pollution index standards: “Certainly, any kind of change in the rules and guidelines is done according to the opinion of the Ministry of Health and the Environment Organization, and the priority is to preserve health.” is the people

We ourselves have a child who is a student

Pointing out that the families should not be worried and we ourselves have children who are students, he said: the approvals of the emergency committee are reviewed from two aspects, one is the issue of health and the other is the issue of the release of static and mobile sources, which in the issue of health is definitely the opinion of the Ministry of Health and In the case of static and mobile pollutant sources, the opinion of the environment is taken into account.

In response to the question that the Minister of Education recently announced that in some countries even with the pollution index of 300 students go to school, he said: Our basis in the emergency committee is not to compare the country with other countries, anyway, they are concerned about educational issues. There are students and it is natural, but the institutions in charge of air pollution and the emergency committee, if they are going to change the approvals, considering the health of the public, especially sensitive groups and students, and with the view of reducing static and mobile resources.

Standards cannot be changed

Sahar Tajbakhsh, head of the country’s meteorological organization, said in this regard: standards cannot be changed because their indicators and definitions are the same all over the world, and the only way to deal with and react to it is to change.

He added: For example, if schools are closed at the index of 150, schools should be closed from the index of 200 onwards. The important thing is that these changes have negative effects on people’s health. Because pollutants affect their IQ and breathing. But it is not possible to close schools and offices all the time, because with successive closures, problems arise in the affairs of the country, so the appropriate measure is to control pollutants.

The answer of the Ministry of Interior to all doubts

In response to all the doubts that have arisen, the information center of the Ministry of Interior has announced about the possible plan to modify air pollution indicators to close schools:

After these criticisms and frequent calls from families who were upset about these closures, education proposed the idea of ​​defining the standard of pollution indicators for closing schools, and then the interior minister announced the existence of such a plan in a press interview.

The argument of the ministries of the country and education is based on the fact that the closure of schools due to air pollution causes a serious impact on the education of students and their significant academic decline.

School closures have increased harm to students, from academic failure to depression

According to research reports, supporters of changing the air pollution standard believe that school closures have increased harms such as student obesity, inactivity, severe academic failure, and laziness in learning.

Besides this, the student gets more depression and isolation because of the lack of social communication in schools. In front of the opponents, they have opposed this idea by citing the statistics of the effects of pollution as well as valid domestic and international research regarding the effects of air pollution, especially in children.

It should be noted that the closure of schools is primarily aimed at protecting the health of students, and this issue is not directly related to reducing air pollution.

A look at the experience of other countries such as India also shows the fact that primary schools are the first priority to be closed in emergency situations of air pollution. Although the issue of air pollution is an important global challenge and the developed countries of the world such as India and China are also involved in this challenge, each country has different standards and policies to solve this challenge, including closing schools and businesses for individuals and The sensitive groups of the society take it and there is no universal solution for it.

For example, Malaysia closes schools if the pollution index reaches 200 microns, and in Beijing and China, this number is defined between 200 and 250. In India, when the index reached 300, this issue led to the order of the authorities to close schools.

Also, the Ministry of Interior announced in this announcement: Considering the significant impact of face-to-face education, policies should be aimed at the continuous attendance of students in classrooms. It should be noted that trying to change the air pollution standard does not mean ignoring the implementation of the Clean Air Act. The approvals of this law are being followed up on a continuous and monthly basis with the presence of related institutions under the guidance of the Ministry of Interior.

Closing schools is not to reduce air pollution, but this action is based on a decree. Corresponding to this issue, the Minister of Interior stated that there is a possibility that a new proposal will be presented to the government with the help of the Environmental Protection Organization.

Implementation of the possible plan that has now been decided

The Ministry of Interior announced last week that this issue was only a possibility and it should be discussed and evaluated in the relevant councils with the presence of members, but now it seems that the issue of changing air pollution indicators to close schools has become more serious and evaluations have been made because This issue is supposed to be discussed and decided on by the government board tomorrow, Sunday, 16th of Bahman get to be Now we have to wait and see how the change in air pollution indicators will be for school closures and whether school closures will be closed forever to support the academic and academic advancement of students.