The Education Ministry will resume GCE Ordinary Level and Advanced Level classes in State schools on November 8.
Education Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said the Covid Task Force has approved the reopening of Grades 10 to 13 for physical classes, thus the Ministry has decided to resume academic activities for those students on November 8.
He told the media in Kandy, after paying homage at the Temple of Tooth Relic, that as soon as clearance is received from Health officials, Grades 6 to 9 will also be reopened for academic activities.
He said student attendance in primary classes which were reopened on October 25, were satisfactory and school administrations were planning programs to catch up on missed lessons. All State and private schools remained closed for over 18 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Primary classes of less crowded schools were the first to reopen after this prolonged closure, on October 21.
A decision on reopening universities is expected in the coming days.
Tuition classes for GCE Ordinary Level and Advanced Level students will be permitted to resume from November 16 with 50 percent of the usual capacity of students, the Director-General of Health Services said.
This was given in the revised guidelines, effective till November 15, issued by the Director General Health Services, Dr. Asela Gunawardena. The health authorities will review the situation and issue guidelines to be followed after November 15. The health services chief said that there is still a risk for the escalation in virus transmission due to cluster formation although significant control of the Covid-19 epidemic in the country has been achieved.