About 38% of school pupils in Bulgaria are on distance learning
Close to 266 000 pupils at schools in Bulgaria are undergoing distance learning this week, about 38 per cent of the total, the Education Ministry said on January 25.
The number attending in-person classes has dropped from 82 per cent last week to 62 per cent this week, the ministry said.
A total of 787 pupils have tested positive for Covid-19, almost half the figure of 1348 last week.
The Education Ministry said that the figure for those testing positive was affected by the fact that fewer pupils were at school, and thus not being tested.
Of those who tested positive, the largest number – 315 – were in the first to fourth grades.
A total of 264 were in the eighth to 12th grades and 208 in the fifth to seventh grades.
The ministry said that the number of teachers and non-teaching staff who had tested positive had increased.
This week, 399 teachers with coronavirus were diagnosed, with more than 24 752 tested. Last week, 366 were positive with more than 27 000 teachers tested.
A total of 164 non-teaching staff had tested positive, compared with 133 last week.
More than 17 500 pupils were attending classes without being tested for the virus because their schools are in municipalities with an incidence of less than 250 per 100 000 people.
A further more than 50 600 pupils are in class without being tested because they have green certificates – either for vaccination, having had Covid-19 or having antibodies.
According to Bulgaria’s Health Ministry, to date 9.25 per cent of high school pupils have been vaccinated and a further 14.43 per cent of high school pupils have had Covid-19 in the past six months.
As of January 25, pupils in Stara Zagora in the fifth to 12th grades are going over to distance learning until the end of the week.
School holidays start on January 28, and classes are to resume on February 7, whether in-person or online will depend on the instructions of health authorities.
(Photo: Education Ministry)
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