The Ministry of Education has announced that classes will also resume for preschool and nursery students when schools reopen on Sunday.

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the government had halted physical classes at schools during March last year and since August 2020, schools had been conducting online classes for students.

The second term of 2020 is set to begin on January 10 and classes will officially resume for students from preschool, nursery and higher grades for the second term of 2020-2021.

As schools are preparing to officially resume physical classes, classes will be conducted under a set of special guidelines established by Health Protection Agency (HPA), in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic that is far from being controlled in the populous capital city.

Preschool students will be required to attend school for two hours a day, for five days a week.

One hour will be dedicated for the education of Covid-19-related matters such as social distancing, proper ways to wash their hands as well as the safety measures against the pandemic.

Primary, secondary and higher secondary students will be required to attend school for five hours and sessions will be divided into three, based around the number of students attending school. Online sessions will also need to conducted, according to the ministry.

Physical classes for grades seven and eight resumed in October last year and classes were being held for 11th and 12th grade students, with the ministry announcing that students from other grades were not required to attend schools for physical classes for the rest of 2020.

The second term is set to conclude by June 24 and the new academic year 2021 is scheduled to begin in August 2021.

All schools and educational institutions were closed across the Maldives due to the pandemic, however, schools were reopened across islands free of Covid-19, with the exemption of the capital region on July 1 last year, under the third phase of the lockdown ease plan.

The ministry earlier noted that they will always prioritize the health and safety of students and that they believe it is in the best interest of students to remain at home with their families, during this time of crisis. Students, parents, guardians and teachers have been urged to pay special heed to hygiene practices as well as the instructions provided by the HPA and other relevant authorities. Measures implemented include enforcing the use of face masks at all times, making arrangements for students to wash their hands as well as thermal screening and social distancing.