Schools in Turkey to reopen for face-to-face education from Monday

By Selma Kasap

ANKARA (AA) - Schools across Turkey will reopen for in-person education five days a week as of Monday with COVID-19 measures in place.

This came after the number of COVID-19 vaccine jabs given in Turkey has exceeded 96.9 million since the country launched an immunization campaign in January.

As part of the preparations for the start of the new academic year, pre-school and first-grade students participated in the face-to-face integration training on Sept. 1-3. Over 2.3 million students were given training by 165,450 teachers.

About 18 million students and more than 1 million teachers at all grades across the country will attend school five days a week as of Monday.

As part of COVID-19 measures, approximately 650 million liras ($ 78.1 million) were sent to around 58,000 schools for mask, disinfectant, and cleaning needs, while 113,000 cleaning personnel were assigned.

With a new electronic tracking system established within the Education Ministry, all processes will be followed in order to ensure that education is not disrupted.

In case of possible virus infection, the contact or risk status of students and staff will be monitored through data integration between the Education Ministry and Health Ministry, and the necessary notification will be issued to the schools.

- Vaccination, PCR test

According to a guide on measures to be taken in schools due to the coronavirus, teachers and school staff will be asked to take a PCR test twice a week if they are not vaccinated.

It will be ensured that the mask waste boxes in schools, public areas, classrooms, and teachers’ rooms are emptied daily. A sufficient number of masks will be provided by the Education Ministry in all schools.

In-person education will be held without reducing the class hours and taking into account the whole of the existing curriculum, just like before the COVID-19 outbreak.