Start of 2nd semester for schools postponed until February 20

AMMAN — The Council of Ministers on Wednesday approved the recommendation of the higher framework committee to deal with the pandemic to postpone the start of the second semester at public and private schools from kindergarten to the 11th grade until February 20.

Minister of State for Media Affairs Faisal Shboul said that the decision aims at maintaining the health of students and educational personnel and breaking the increasing number of cases, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

In this regard, Shboul, who is also the government spokesperson, said that the previous decision to start the winter holiday earlier contributed to limiting the increasing number of cases then.

The minister also stressed that in-class education will continue and the decision to resort to online education is unlikely, noting that the semester will be extended to a period that equals the period of the delay, where the semester will end on July 6.

Health estimates show that the current pandemic wave will continue increasing for several weeks before the curve starts decreasing, where the decision to delay the start of the second semester is aimed at sparing some 2.17 million students the risk of contracting the virus, he pointed out.

Shboul also said that the decision excluded 12th graders whose number stands at some 34,000, provided that schools commit to the health protocol stipulating the closure of schools that record an infection rate exceeding 10 per cent.

The minister noted that this step provides an opportunity to vaccinate the biggest possible number of school students, where the vaccination campaign is scheduled to start on next Sunday targeting the 12-17 years age group.

He highlighted that countries with the Omicron variant saw higher hospital admissions of students when compared with other virus variants.