Brunei: May 14 back to school for children 5-11 years old, says education minister

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 3 (Borneo Bulletin/ANN): Face-to-face schooling for children aged five to 11 will commence on May 14, said Minister of Education Dato Seri Setia Awang Hamzah Sulaiman during a press conference in the capital.

The minister said children may attend regardless of vaccination status, and the decision to resume face-to-face schooling for the age group was made after taking into account the declining trend of Covid-19 infections in the country, adding that 50,000 is expected to return to school by May 14.

Awang Hamzah said this coincided with the start of the second term of schooling for education institutions under the Ministry of Education (MoE) and Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA).

He said educational institutions which may be able to open earlier are able to do so by applying for permission from the MoE, and the ministry will evaluate and consider the matter.

Permission has been given for international schools to begin face-to-face sessions on April 11, which coincides with the start of their third school term, said the minister.

Children aged five-to-11 will still undergo home-based learning until April 18. April 19 to May 13 is the first school term holidays for schools under MoE and MoRA.

The minister said this will enable schools to prepare for a return to in-person learning, including the implementation of antigen rapid-tests (ART), back-to-school activities and assessments, especially in literacy and numeracy.

“The MoE also gives permission to government schools, formal private and non-formal private educational institutions (IPS) registered with the ministry, such as tutoring or tuition classes, skills, music and computers, to start school sessions face to face by first informing the MoE,” added the minister.

Brunei reported only 503 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, bringing the total tally to 134,915 as cases has been lower since last week.

Brunei has recorded less than 1,000 daily new cases for nine straight days after the number of daily cases during the third wave of the pandemic reached its peak on March 3 at 4,885, showed the official data.

As of March 31, 61.6 percent of Brunei's about 420,000 population had received three doses of Covid-19 vaccines. - Borneo Bulletin/ANN