By Sarah Hannan Considering the instructions of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education has postponed the reopening of schools to 27 July. Following the Covid-19 cluster that was reported from the Kandakadu Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre along with the hundreds of close contacts testing positive for the virus, as a result recording the highest number of patients detected in a day in Sri Lanka, schools were instructed to shut down again for a week. Speaking to The Morning, Ceylon Teachers’ Service Union General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe said: “The absence of proper preventive health guidelines to control the spread of Covid-19 was quite prevalent as this time, the virus was also reported from a school level. The unclear instructions shared from time to time by the Ministry of Education has jeopardised the wellbeing of schoolchildren of Sri Lanka after many children who went to school in Rajanganaya got infected by Covid-19.” Meanwhile, last Saturday (18), Minister of Education Dullas Alahapperuma said that schools will reopen on 27 July for Grades Five, 11, and 13, while the rest of the grades will be brought in after the general election as most schools will be used as polling stations and counting centres. Furthermore, the date to hold the local Advanced Level (A/L) examination is to be decided this week. Secretary to the Ministry of Education N.H.M. Chithrananda, when asked how the education sector should adapt for such an unplanned closing down, noted: “This pandemic is still ongoing and we will heed the health authorities warnings before we reopen schools once again.”