Gradual return to schools in Gaza to start next week

A staff member of the Rosary Sisters school in Gaza City checks the temperature of returning students on the first day of school, after local authorities eased some of the restrictions that were imposed in a bid to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, on 8 August 2020. [MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images]

The Palestinian Education Ministry in Gaza has started preparing for the gradual return to school which could start on 10 October, Anadolu reported yesterday.

This came after more than 40 days of closures in the wake of the first COVID-19 cases in the community.

Deputy Education Minister Ziyad Thabet said that his ministry had approved a “clear plan for safe return to schools in coordination with the competent authorities in light of the spread of COVID-19.”

He said that the first step was for the ministry to allow those in their final year of secondary school, to return.

Then, the ministry said, it would evaluate this measure and decide on the following step.

In preparation for this, the ministry had started to disinfect 137 government schools which will host the students.

The Ministry of Health said that 3,354 COVID-19 cases have been recorded in Gaza since the outbreak of the pandemic in March, including 22 deaths.

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