Teaching in classrooms in Fredrikstad that contain asbestos – NRK Østfold – Local news, TV and radio

– The rooms are secured and we are confident that the pupils will not be exposed to asbestos, says Brynjard Rønningen.

He is director for Training and competence in Østfold County Municipality.

• No chances are taken at the school. At the beginning of April, cracked floor tiles led to evacuation

In October last year, the substance became harmful to health asbestos discovered at Frederik II high school in Fredrikstad. Only in December were parts of the school closed down.

Since then, the school’s 1,200 students have been taught throughout the city.

Now pupils are back in several of the classrooms, although the walls still contain asbestos.

The rønningen will reassure people who think it is unsafe to be in the classrooms. According to the county council, the asbestos-containing parts are sealed and covered with protective plates.

– Measures have been taken, they have been checked and tested emphatically. We know it is safe to stay there.

Fredriksstad Blad mentioned the reopening first.

Please be careful

According to Østfold County Council, which owns the school, the building can now be used almost as normal. The rønningen rejects claims from earlier that students are not allowed to touch the walls.

– It is not dangerous to touch walls. It is a misunderstanding at best. But it is important that no one initiates anything that releases asbestos, such as nailing or drilling into the walls.

But that is exactly what should have happened earlier this week, when some students pinned curtains to the wall to shield them from the sun. The students were clearly informed that it was not allowed to do so.

– That shouldn’t happen, and then we’ll have to follow it up. Now we have to make sure we follow the advice we have been given. The rooms are to be used as normal, but we are not to make physical interventions, either through play or other activity on those surfaces.

What he refers to when he says “play” is violent play that can damage the walls.

– Gets scared

But Russian President Daniel Vygovskyy still believes that it can happen quickly.

– Sayif you tell a kid that he can’t touch anything, he’s going to do just that. It’s hard to walk around sitting and being careful. You get a little scared if you destroy something and get blamed.

At the same time, he is happy to be back in the F block. Because in the time after the school was closed, the class has had classes in the old Onsøy town hall. It is a building that is not suitable for teaching, and many of them have had classrooms in the hallway.

– It’s been really crazy, he says.

Needs new premises

After the closure, students have been taught in ten premises spread over large parts of the city. Several have had to use a car between classrooms.

The long-term plan is to build a new school, according to the county council. But until that is in place, the students need temporary premises.

There must be three localities that are relevant in that connection. Where the temporary premises will be will be decided by 1 May.

Student council leader Mariam Kala Ali says it doesn’t work with scattered premises.

– We lose a lot of school hours. The timetable is adjusted so that everyone is in the same place at all times. For us students, it is important that the new temporary premises are in one place and that they are centrally located in relation to Frederik.

Approved until the summer

The classrooms in block F are in any case included in the further planning until the new school is in place.

– This building is part of the solution we are now working on.

– The building is only approved until the summer. How do you handle it?

– We have professional expertise that gives us good advice on how to handle it both up until the summer and possibly beyond, says Brynjard Rønningen.