Non-higher education schools will resume classes from 25 October, and higher education institutions are due to follow suit, with face-to-face teaching starting the same day, as long as the pandemic continues to recede, the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) has announced.
Officials cautioned that schools and institutions must strictly implement epidemic prevention guidelines issued by the bureau and the health department, and thoroughly clean and disinfect the campus before resuming classes.
Centres under the auspices of the DSEDJ, Loving the Country, Loving Macao Education Base for Young People, Patriotic Sentiment Pavilion, youth hostels, Youth Art Exhibition and Performance Hall, the gymnasium of Escola Luso-Chinesa Técnico-Profissional and their respective workshops will be reopened to the public tomorrow.
Citizens who enter the venues must follow the instructions of the on-site staff, wear masks, measure their body temperature, and show the Macao health code. People-flow control measures will be taken to limit the number of people on site.
From 25 October, all faculty and staff of institutions of higher learning and non-tertiary education, and students of higher education institutions, must present proof that they have received at least one dose of vaccine or present the negative results of the nucleic acid test within seven days of entering the campus. Private continuing education institutions and private supplementary teaching assistance centres should also implement the above guidelines on the same day.
According to the latest statistics, the number of vaccinated faculty members and students in higher education institutions and non-tertiary education schools has increased.
In non-higher education, the number of faculty members and students who have received at least one dose or more of the vaccine has exceeded 22,000, nearly 80 per cent, and the vaccination rate for students over 12 years old is about 40 per cent.
In higher education, the number of faculty and students who have received at least one dose or more of the vaccine in colleges and universities has exceeded 33,000, of which the inoculation rate of faculty is close to 80 per cent, and the student vaccination rate is 6 per cent.
In order to protect the health and safety of teachers and students, DSEDJ urged all qualified school staff and students to get vaccinated against the new coronavirus as soon as possible.
Classes were first halted on 27 September and were due to resume on 3 October. However, following the Health Bureau’s warning of a suspicious positive sample waiting for re-examination and a certain risk in the community, they further halted classes on 4 October.
