The suspension of in-person classes at schools across the nation has been extended until June 14, the Ministry of Education said yesterday.
Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) made the announcement at the Central Epidemic Command Center’s daily news briefing in the afternoon after Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said the nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert would continue through June 14.
To reduce the risk of COVID-19 cluster infections, the education ministry had said on Tuesday last week that schools at all levels — including public and private kindergartens, after-school childcare centers, cram schools and other educational institutions — would suspend in-person learning from Wednesday last week to Friday.
Photo: CNA
The nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert was initially to end on Friday.
During the extended period, parents of children under the age of 12 or children with a disability would continue to be eligible for “disease prevention childcare leave,” the education ministry said yesterday.
For students below the high-school level whose parents are unable to take care of them at home, or students who are unable to engage in distance learning at home, schools would continue to arrange staff to enable them to study at school throughout the extension, it said.
It would also continue to provide meals to students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are learning online at home, it added.
Meanwhile, the education ministry would continue to expand the number of resources available for online teaching and learning, the ministry said.
To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, schools at all levels have been asked to cancel their graduation ceremonies, it said.
If a school must hold a graduation ceremony, the event should be done virtually, the ministry added.
Schools should find alternative ways to administer exit exams, final exams and makeup exams to students in the sixth, ninth and 12th grades, it said.
Makeup exams for the Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students would still be held on Saturday next week and on June 6, the ministry said.
At the center’s news conference in Taipei, Pan urged employers to support workers who ask for “disease prevention childcare leave.”
He also urged companies to adopt more flexible policies, including letting people work from home, to allow employees with young children to manage their professional and childcare responsibilities.
As of 5:30pm on Monday, 145 students — 70 in college, 22 in high school, 17 in junior high school, 24 in elementary school and 12 in kindergarten — had been confirmed to have COVID-19, education ministry data showed.
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