School classes to resume online only from February 1

Society
baljmaa@montsame.gov.mn
2021-01-27 12:35:20

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. The Ministry of Education and Science has been ensuring preparations to start the second semester of 2020/2021 academic year of general education schools nationwide from February 1, 2021, Monday in line with the school year calendar. 


Due to the present situation of the COVID-19 pandemic and winter weather conditions in the month of February, educational activities will be held online or via TV classes only. 


Weather forecast showed that February is likely to remain cold, causing influenza outbreak to grow. According to the education ministry, there are more than 20,000 children of school and kindergarten age in more than 11,000 families living in 151 soums of 11 aimags that are currently considered to be at high risk of severe winter conditions. Therefore, distant learning in February would avoid putting children in rural aimags under possible risks amid the cold winter temperature, noted the ministry officials. 


The cabinet and the State Emergency Commission will decide when in-person educational activities to resume, which is anticipated by February 15 or March 1, 2021. 


Classroom learning at schools and universities moved to online from November 10, 2020 when first coronavirus cases of community transmission started to detect and winter break kicked off on December 18, 2020. The capital city of Ulaanbaatar still remains as a host for active clusters of COVID-19 infections and rural aimags had not reported any new cases of COVID-19 in the past month at minimum.