Vaccinating staff key to safely reopening schools - Education Minister

The Government's aim is to reopen schools as quickly as possible while giving priority to the health of students, Education Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris said today. 

He made these remarks at a media briefing after meeting with medical experts on the possibility of reopening schools that are currently closed on account of the COVID pandemic. 

Prof. Peiris said the first step towards safetly reopening schools is to vaccinate academic and non-academic staff at schools. He added that about 279, 020 vaccine doses are estimated to be required to vaccinate all academic and non-academic staff. The minister said extensive discussions are also taking place regarding the issues that could arise when reopening schools. 

He observed that the Education Ministry has implemented a range of online education programmes to enable students to engage in distance learning during the period that schools remain closed. However, online learning can never be a satisfactory substitute for learning in a physical classroom in the presence of a teacher, the minister asserted.  

Fully reopening schools however, will require a lengthy period of preparation and the Education Ministry has decided that school will only reopen based recommendations and advice of medical experts, he further said. 

He noted that vaccination will ensure health security for teachers and will also strengthen the confidence of parents. As such, he said it was the Government's aim to quickly reopen schools while giving priority to the safety of students.