Court Allows Return to In-Person Classes in Rio de Janeiro State Private Schools

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A new Labor Court ruling has suspended the effects of the injunction that prevented the return to classes in Rio de Janeiro state’s private schools on Monday, September 14th, before the availability of a vaccine against Covid-19. The decision was taken by Judge Carlos Henrique Chernicharo, of the Regional Labor Court (TRT/RJ) and granted the appeal of the Association of Basic Education Companies (SINEPE).

The preliminary injunction involves secondary and elementary school classes in the state of Rio de Janeiro and provides that, regardless of the return, institutions must provide distance learning options to professionals who, for reasons of age or health, are within the risk group.

Public schools, with their return to classes authorized for October 5th, are not included in the decision.

Private schools in the city of Rio de Janeiro are also not included in the decision, as a prior civil court ruling preventing in-person classes is still in effect. The Rio City Hall has appealed that decision to the Supreme Court.

In the document, the judge states that “there is no way to defer the return to work of teachers and the like until the risk has been eradicated, at the risk of causing irreparable damage to students, parents and teachers”. The text also states that “parents of students may not be compelled to keep the student in class,” stressing the need to preserve distance learning to meet curriculum requirements.

Rio de Janeiro counts 240,776 cases, with 16,985 deaths, according to state government data released on Saturday.

The return to classes in private schools in Rio was already scheduled for Monday, but suffered a setback on Thursday, September 10th, when the Labor Court granted an injunction suspending the return until there is a vaccine or some kind of confirmation that the return is safe for all parties involved. Educational institutions that disregarded the decision and summoned teachers to in-person activities, even in higher education, could be fined R$10,000 per day.

September 14th was the date set in a decree published in a special edition of the State Gazette on August 19th.

“The return to classes represents a significant crowding of people in the same closed environment and in public transports, when compared to other activities in which the return has already occurred, although with restrictions, noting also that this involves children, who will not always be able to adjust to health criteria,” says Judge Elisio Correa de Moraes Neto in the ruling.

On Sunday morning, representatives of schools and day care centers rallied in Copacabana, in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, in favor of reopening. Some 200 people, including parents and students who carried posters with words like “The children’s place is in school”, took part in the demonstration.

Source: Veja