Circular on resumption of academic activities at all schools in WP

COLOMBO (News 1st): Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Prof. Kapila Perera, on Thursday (Mar. 25) issued a special circular with regard to the commencement of academic activities on 29th March for all grades at all government and government approved private schools in the Western Province for the year 2021, the Ministry of Education said. The special circular was issued to all Provincial Chief Secretaries, Provincial Secretaries of Education, Zonal Directors of Education, Divisional Directors of Education, Parivenadhipathi Theros, and Principals. The circular notes that all schools in the Western Province will re-open for academic activities on Monday, the 29th of March for all grades; however, in the event an area is declared isolated, schools in the respective area will be closed temporarily. Starting from Friday (Mar. 26) to Sunday (Mar. 28), measures should be taken to ensure health safety at school premises prior to the resumption of academic activities. Furthermore, the circular emphasized that it is NOT appropriate to direct children to exams and competitions as soon as school starts, instead the process of adapting children back to the school environment and improving their mental health should be prioritized. The circular issued by the Ministry of Education also contains guidelines on how classes should be conducted whilst ensuring social distances. Thereby, classes with up to 15 students should be conducted every day of the week, while the classes where there are 16 to 30 students should be divided into two groups and classes should be conducted every other week. According to the circular, classes with more than 30 students should be divided into three groups and classes should be held on an equal number of days. With regard to the academic and non-academic staff reporting back to work, the circular states that since academic activities are resuming, all staff members are required to report for duty as usual. The guidelines pertaining to the resumption of academic activities are published on the official website of the Ministry of Education that can be accessed via www.moe.gov.lk Moreover, the first term of schools is scheduled to conclude on 09th April 2021 and the second term will resume on 19th April 2021.