The government confirmed on Wednesday the plan to re-open kindergartens, primary schools for the first three grades and the final grade, and secondary schools for final-year students on Monday. Certain restrictions will apply, including on the number of children and students per classroom.
Under instructions recently issued by the Education Ministry, up to 10-15 children are allowed to sit in a single classroom in primary and secondary schools, and up to 8-10 children in an individual kindergarten group.
The 10-student limit will apply to the first three grades of primary school, while the 15-student limit will apply to the ninth grade of primary schools and the final grade of secondary schools.
Students of the remaining grades in primary and secondary schools are expected to continue to be schooled remotely until the end of the school year.
The recommendations also note that all school employees and nine-graders will be required to wear face masks – nine-graders only outside their classroom and employees all the time.
In kindergartens, a group in the first age category (one to three years) may count up to eight children, and up to ten children in the second category (four to six years).
Employees in kindergartens are advised to wear face masks, especially when they encounter colleagues or parents of the children.
Secondary school students will have to bring a signed statement confirming that they did not have Covid-19 symptoms in the last 14 days and that they were not in contact with an infected person.
For primary school children and kindergarten children, such statement will have to be signed by their parents