State, International and private schools will return to normal operations tomorrow, completing the staggered re-opening process, nearly six months after the last school closure mandated by the deadly Covid-19 world pandemic.
Children have lost over 80 percent of their schooling this year due to the pandemic.
Education State Minister Susil Premajayantha said the Education and the Health Ministries have ensured that the schools strictly follow health guidelines and the children are safe in school.
A guideline on catching-up work for state schools has been issued by the National Institute of Education (NIE) and the Education Ministry. Schools are permitted to carry on catch-up work till the end of March next year, to minimise the loss of teaching time during the past one-and-a-half-years.
The new school year for most schools will begin from the second term.
“We have decided not to reduce the syllabi of the new ‘Grade’ although schools will have only two terms to cover the lessons in 2022. But the end of term holidays will be slashed,” State Minister Premajayantha said.
He said the GCE Advanced Level and Ordinary Level examinations of 2021 will be conducted during the first term of next year.
The Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 lifted the countrywide lockdown on October 1 and schools were permitted to operate from October 21. Primary sections of schools with less than 200 students, were re-opened and in early November GCE OL and AL classes resumed under the first phase. Grades 6 to 9 are due to begin tomorrow under the final phase.
The Government has also given the green light to operate private tuition classes under strict health guidelines.
The country reported 745 Covid-19 patients on Friday and 14 deaths attributed to the pandemic. There is a slight increase observed in the daily count lately and the Health authorities have cautioned the people to adhere to health guidelines to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.
Over 555,000 Covid-19 cases and nearly 14,100 deaths had been reported in the country by Friday.