The Edition
facebook icon twitter icon instagram icon linkedin icon

Latest

Teaching for grade 6 and below will not resume this year: Education Ministry

Ahmed Aiham
18 October 2020, MVT 16:30
Schools across the greater Male' Region will resume teaching for all grades from grade 7 and above after October 25. PHOTO: MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
Ahmed Aiham
18 October 2020, MVT 16:30

Ministry of Education, on Saturday, revealed that classes for grades starting from six to all levels below, shall not restart within 2020, for schools throughout the Greater Male' Region.

Speaking at the press conference regularly held by the Health Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC), State Minister for Education Dr Abdulla Rasheed stated that, as a result of exams slated for November, the government lacked adequate time to resume classes.

The state minister further added that, nevertheless, online classes would continue for students of lower grades enrolled in schools located in the region - the epicentre of Maldives' COVID-19 outbreak.

He also highlighted that a contingency plan to implement online lessons for a potential shutdown of schools was now compiled, to be implemented in the event that a third surge of virus infections is observed within the region.

Per schedule, the ministry will resume teaching for grades seven and eight on October 25 and 19, respectively. The ministry has, at present, commenced teaching for grades nine to 12,

Minister of Education Dr Aishath Ali previously noted that schools will enforce a strict observation of social distancing within classrooms and screen students for their temperature when entering the school premises.

Maldives currently records a total of 11,178 virus cases of which 1,038 are active cases, in addition to 10,097 recoveries and 36 deaths.

During August, authorities tightened the safety measures implemented in the Greater Male' region, following an alarming upsurge of COVID-19 cases after the state initiated efforts to steer the country towards a 'new normal' with the phased easing of lockdown restrictions.

After a long period of recording over 100 daily cases, the numbers fell to two-digits during the most part of September. Within this same period, the number of recoveries saw a significant increase, bringing the number of recovered cases to over 90 percent.

Despite the sustained decrease in virus cases, HPA has renewed calls for citizens to adhere to protective measures to contain the spread of the virus, cautioning against a public sentiment that the outbreak has been “controlled”.

On March 12, WHO classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. To date, the new strain of novel coronavirus has infected over 40 million people and claimed over 1.1 million lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 29.9 million people have recovered.

MORE ON NEWS