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Schools reopen in Male' region

Mariyam Malsa
10 January 2021, MVT 13:55
PHOTO: AHMED AWSHAN ILYAS/ MIHAARU
Mariyam Malsa
10 January 2021, MVT 13:55

All schools in the capital city of Male' from kindergarten to grade 12 reopened after a lengthy interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, authorities revealed that schooling in the new normal will involve significant changes which are intended to ensure the protection of students.

Under the protocol rolled out by the Ministry of Education as protective measures to limit the spread of disease, overall sessions will be limited to 4 to 5 hours.

Pre-Schoolers or foundation level students are required to attend five days for a minimum of two hours, of which 60 minutes shall be dedicated to checking body temperatures, washing hands and partaking in physical activity.

In addition to social distancing and hygienic measures, several schools have divided their student population into two groups, with alternating days assigned to each.

During her video to announce the beginning of 2020's second term, Minister of Education Dr Aishath Ali assured parents that arrangements were in place to ensure safety within the school environment.

In March 2019, following the community spread of COVID19 in the capital city, schools in the Greater Male’ Region were closed indefinitely. In the absence of official classroom teaching, authorities relied on online and broadcast methods to provide lessons to students in particular age groups.

Given the unprecedented changes brought about by the pandemic, education has similarly revised teaching formats, choosing to begin classes according to the syllabus laid out for the second term of the previous year.

Hence, lessons intended for the first term of this year, or the actual first term of the academic calendar, will begin on August 10.

At present, Maldives records a total of 14,065 virus cases of which 701 are active cases, in addition to 13,308 recoveries and 49 deaths.

HPA recently eased several safety measures imposed to control the spread of COVID-19. These leniencies include the cancellation of the city-wide curfew over the greater Male’ region, the reduction of quarantine periods to 10 days as well as cancelling mandatory quarantine for locals returning to Maldives and for locals travelling to resorts.

Despite the sustained decrease in virus cases, the agency 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 90.1 million people and claimed over 1.9 million lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 64.4 million people have recovered.

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