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Reopening of schools: Ministries yet to finalise date

11 Sep 2021

By Yoshitha Perera The Ministries of Education and Health are yet to finalise a date for the reopening of schools and the categories of schools to be reopened. Minister of Education Dinesh Gunawardena told The Sunday Morning that both ministries were discussing the possibilities of reopening some categories of schools and the measures that needed to be taken in that regard. However, the date for reopening had not been finalised yet, Gunawardena informed The Sunday Morning. “We still haven’t finalised the date to reopen schools, but we have begun the process of making the guidelines with officials of the Health and Education Ministries,” Gunawardena said. He also stated that his Ministry was considering the necessary measures that would enable them to conduct the Grade Five Scholarship exam and the GCE Advanced Level (A/L) and Ordinary Level (O/L) practical exams that were announced two months ago. “The health and safety requirements will play a major role in the consideration process, and that’s why the discussions are continuing with the relevant authorities at the moment. Getting the children back to school is a high priority, as is the acceleration of the vaccination process for these schoolchildren,” the Minister explained. Responding to The Sunday Morning’s query on the vaccination drive for school teachers, Gunawardena said that administering vaccines for them was nearing completion. Meanwhile, on Friday (10), President Gotabaya Rajapaksa instructed Ministry of Health officials to prepare a series of guidelines for the reopening of schools and to submit them by tomorrow (13). The President also instructed the officials to take necessary steps to expedite the vaccination of 12-18-year-old children. Accordingly, Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr. Asela Gunawardena was to prepare the guidelines with the assistance of specialist doctors, technical evaluation officers, and officials from the Education Ministry. The reopening of schools was also discussed at the Covid-19 Task Force meeting chaired by the President last Friday. At the meeting, Ministers Bandula Gunawardana and Dullas Alahapperuma pointed out that rural schools and primary schools with fewer children could be opened. It had been revealed that the consent of provincial governors had also been obtained in this regard. Medical experts had also expressed concerns about primary schoolchildren being exposed to long hours of online education.


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