School insists on woolly hat ban despite open windows

Good ventilation. A blast of fresh air is seen as one of the easy ways you can reduce the threat of coming down with coronavirus.  In schools too the classroom windows now stand ajar. But surely this shouldn’t mean our future has to sit in their classrooms freezing to death now temperatures are dipping?

We can hope the thermostat is going up a notch and even if it will cost us a pretty euro, given the added expenditure we are already facing as a result of coronavirus, we probably won’t notice.

Pupils can dress warmly for class, add extra layers and keep their outdoor wear on, or can they?  In the Antwerp town of Duffel one parent is now at loggerheads with the management of her local primary.  Suzanne Bonaguidi has two sons at the school.  One often suffers from earache, but the school won’t let him keep his hat on during class.

“My son complains he’s cold in class.  You’re allowed to wear warm clothes from the neck down, but my son complains about his head and ears being cold.”

The school points to the rules and regs.  Headwear is not permitted.  “If you allow that kind of thing, you create a certain atmosphere and that we wish to avoid” says cabinet member Lili Stevens. “Pupils might wear silly hats.  Pupils have to be able to work in class. They’ll be wanting to wear gloves next! That’s why we’re sticking to the rules!”

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