Start Of New School Year Postponed

Source: Vientiane Times

Education authorities have postponed the start of the new academic year, along with school registration and entrance exams to colleges, universities and vocational education centres in several provinces.

The new school year was scheduled to begin on September 1 but due to the rising number of Covid-19 infections and to prevent the spread of the virus in schools, Education and Sports Departments in some provinces and Vientiane have postponed the start of classes.

The suspension will continue until further notice, but education authorities plan to arrange for classes to resume when infection rates fall.

However, school administrators are preparing to continue online learning as well as use the Ministry of Education and Sports’s Kangpanyalao learning database while schools are closed.

Authorities in Vientiane on August 30 ordered the closure of all classes at kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities.

School registration and entrance exams at colleges, universities and vocational education centres have also been suspended, with the capital’s education and sports departments ordered to comply with the ruling.

In Luang Prabang province, the planned start of the new school year at state and private schools on September 1 has been postponed until further notice.

Authorities are encouraging staff, teachers and students to get vaccinated, with many education staff having already been immunised.

Education and sports offices in the province and its districts have banned all educational meetings, seminars and training sessions.
Schools in red-zone villages that have reported new cases of the virus have called a halt to student registration.

In Vientiane province, the new school year is expected to start on September 6 but all schools must comply with Covid prevention rules.

However, education authorities plan to continue online learning if the start of the new school year is postponed because of a Covid outbreak.

According to the province’s Education and Sports Department, local authorities are preparing for classes by cleaning and spraying disinfectant at schools that have been used as quarantine facilities.

As part of virus prevention measures, schools have been instructed to ensure that classrooms have washbasins with soap and hand sanitiser, as well as face masks, and arrange seating according to social distancing rules.