Dnevnik on govt's attitude to education workers, self-testing
Ljubljana - The newspaper Dnevnik says the government first said it would heed education workers' calls for mandatory self-testing to be carried out at home at least for primary school children in years 1-5, but it then adopted a decree under which all school children will have to self-test on school premises as of Wednesday.
Education workers feel rather uneasy as some parents opposing self-testing are already exerting pressure on them, Dnevnik says in Saturday's commentary Test of Patience.
The large group of parents opposing face masks has now been joined by parents who oppose self-testing, as many parents consider it interference in their child's personal integrity, whereas very young children have never been expected to self-test in the first place.
"Education workers have been put in a position where their hands are tied... They are used to this practice from before, yet the government's ignorance has convinced them even more firmly that politics is not abusing only police and healthcare but also them.
Abuse is sometimes hard to see as the Janez Janša government, just like all authoritarian regimes, wraps measures into a veil of rhetoric to make it hard to decipher who proposed them."
Some schools do not intend to send home the children who will refuse to self-test, arguing it would cause segregation, but they might have to notify inspectors.
Dnevnik says Education Minister Simona Kustec claimed last year putting schools and children in different positions with some going to school and others being on remote learning, was is not in line with the constitution. She has apparently changed her mind. "Janša's government would like to rewrite the constitution every time anew."