Schools to re-open in Azerbaijan under new rules
By Ayya Lmahamad
Schools and universities will receive their students next week as the academic year is set to start on September 15.
Kindergartens, schools and universities across the country were shut down since March 3 as part of the measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved temporary rules for the work of educational institutions.
The new rules stipulate social distancing and personal hygiene rules such as wearing masks.
Masks are mandatory in vocational, specialized and higher educational institutions. However, in preschool and general educational institutions, children's music, art schools parents or other legal representatives will decide on mask wearing among children.
Furthermore, in the process of full-time education, the age of teachers involved in the education process must be under 65 years.
All students and teachers will have their temperatures measured while entering the educational institution, and will not be allowed to enter the institution if their temperature is higher than 37.1°C.
The work of canteens (cafeterias) will be suspended. Moreover, the floors of the sanitary unit, washbasins, door handles and other surfaces will be disinfected every two hours.
The use gyms and libraries in schools will also be forbidden during the special quarantine regime.
There has also been changes in the school hours.
Primary school pupils attending 1-4 classes will go to school from September 15 and the classes will be held 2-3 days per week. Pupils in large classes will be divided into several groups and each group will go to classes two or three times a week.
Pupils of the fifth to ninth grades will go to school starting from October 1 while attending online classes from September 1 till October 1.
As for the senior classes, they will go to school from October 15 and till that time study remotely.
The classes for all pupils might be resumed in full as of November 2 if the epidemiological situation shows positive dynamics.
Additionally, it is planned to start preschool groups again with classes held 2 times a week from October 1.
As to higher educational institutions, university students will continue studying on online basis. However, 1st year students of Bachelor programs will go to the universities for orientation as of October 1. In addition, the education process will start at the full-time base for some specialties such as medicine, engineering and so on, as of October 15.
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