Education Minister Sorin Cimpeanu said on Tuesday in Ploiesti that the programme of remedial classes will be extended throughout the school year 2021-2022, to make up for educational losses as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"Today, (...) the Ministry of Education will put forth in the law approving the ordinance establishing this programme of remedial classes an extension of this programme which, as we speak, is valid for the 2nd semester of the school year 2020- 2021, so only in the ongoing semester. Aware of the need to make up for educational losses, this programme will be extended throughout the school year 2021-2022," the minister said at a conference organised as part of the "Vaccination and Testing for Learning" national campaign.

Cimpeanu added that the proposal will be made to the Senate's Education Committee.

According to him, no education system in the world has been prepared for this period of health crisis, in which the losses are high and very high.

He said that he appreciates the effort made during this period by teachers, who were not prepared for the virtual instruction system, totally different from the classic one.

"It is extremely important that we be able to return to school physically when the epidemiological situation allows it. (...) I am not saying that after we have finished this pandemic we will return to the exact same style that we left in March 2020. We will not go back to the same style; whether we like it or not, the part of virtual teaching, the part of digitising education, will be much more enhanced after we end this health crisis. That is a good thing, if we know how and where to apply it properly," said Cimpeanu. AGERPRES (RO - author: Anamaria Constantin, editor: Georgiana Tanasescu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Cristina Zaharia)