Ministers Vote to Reopen Schools Next Week, First Younger Grades

The ministerial committee dealing with the coronavirus approved a plan to begin reopening kindergartens and elementary schools from next Sunday.

Under the government plan, elementary-school children through third grade, and children up to the age of six for day care, will be the first to return to school and day-care programs.

They will be split into groups of 15 students and will have school from Sunday through Thursday. The smaller groups will be spread out across all the classrooms, as the higher classes are still out at home. In the meantime, the higher grades will continue to study from home.

The decision was conditioned on a reassessment of the situation on Friday.

The government also conditioned that the teachers should not be high-risk, and that students with family members at risk should also not attend school. The schools are also asked to comply with the rules of social distancing and hygiene.

A similar outline will also be introduced in the day-care system, which will also resume activity in smaller groups and only on some days of the week.

The meeting was led by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and was attended by the relevant ministers and authorities.