A welcome relief for some families – Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s announcement that primary schools will reopen after the May holidays. In the run-up to Tuesday evening’s press conference, Studio040 polled the mood in the streets.
After a month and a half of juggling balls at home, the forced quarantine for some families is beginning to get old. The combination of working from home and caring for children and their digital schooling is an art that not everyone mastered equally well. And because the May holidays are already being spent at home, many parents are eagerly awaiting a restart of the schools.
“The transition to digital isn’t just picked up by younger pupils. Not even by my child,”, a mother says. “It requires discipline and structure, which you have to check as parents. Otherwise, they’ll do something else.”
Won’t mind if school open again
“My two eldest children are in secondary school. That works, although they also have to be encouraged. But you won’t hear me complain if Rutte decides to reopen the schools”.
Her daughter agrees, “I can concentrate better at home, but I miss my friends. Also at home, it always feels a bit like you’re on holiday. While you have to work pretty hard in the meantime. Then I’d rather be at school anyway”.
Yet there are also parents who have entered a kind of new rhythm with their children which is quite manageable. “We’re having a pretty good time, actually”, a mother in Woensel says. “We do work with a tight schedule, where my husband and I take turns taking care of the children.”
“They have gotten used to it by now. And with a separate workspace in the attic, that’s fine. Of course, working at location with colleagues around you also has its advantages. But if we have to, we’ll manage this for a while”.
Source: www.studio040.nl
Translated by: Bob
