Education Minister, Premila Kumar

There is still no decision on when schools will reopen and the Education Ministry says they will not pre-empt as this will only cause confusion.

Schools have been shut since April, after the second wave of COVID-19 hit Fiji.

Education Minister, Premila Kumar says that while students will need to wear masks and observe social distancing, other factors also need to be considered before the safe reopening of schools.

“The first thing we need to take into consideration on how we prepare the classrooms, you all know, we know that some of the classrooms are overcrowded and how do we ensure the overcrowding is taken care of. So we are taking cues from Ministry of Health and they have cleared the protocol that will be rolled out”.

Kumar says they will be discussing the protocols with the divisional and school heads to ensure that it are strictly adhered to.

“Once they tell me that ye we have taken care of the requirement for the opening of the school then I can say alright here is the date when the kids can come back to school”.

The Education Minister is meeting with divisional education officers today and heads of schools on Monday to discuss its next move.