Ahead of the kindergarten opening (ages 3-6) this Sunday, the Education Ministry instructed kindergarten administrators to prepare for the return of the children. In light of this, pre-school teachers will stop remote study.

Ahead of the opening on Sunday, the Ministry published the gradual return plan: three days in kindergarten and three days learning at home.

Education Minister Rabbi Rafi Peretz noted, “Kindergartens (3-6) are returning to activity. As part of the gradual return of the entire education system, the government has decided to adopt the Ministry’s outline and return to regular kindergarten activities. I instructed the professional level to work at maximum efficiency in high readiness this Sunday for the return of the children. The parents will return to their work and thus the economy will return to activity and the children will return to their daily routine, of course with maximum adherence to Health Ministry guidelines.”

Education Ministry Director Shmuel Abubav added, “We’re preparing to open the kindergartens, and we’ve already started with the necessary preparations. We asked preschool administrators to stop remote study so they could spend the next few days preparing, organizing, and readying them to welcome the children and allow the authorities to prepare accordingly. I want to thank the education teams who do their holy work every single day in the schools and kindergartens.”

Details of the plan include: Kindergartens will operate from 7:55 a.m. (and not 7:30 as usual) and children will be divided into two constant groups of up to 18 students each (enlarging the total number of students allowed in a class from 30 -36) and each group will be in class for three days of the week. The first group be in class Sunday-Tuesday and the second will be in class Wednesday – Friday. These days can alternate each week in order to make the system fair to all.) Teachers and administrative staff will work their regular hours and still have regular days off. Each group of 18 children will be subdivided into two groups and will spend time apart from the other students on other sides of the room or one group inside and one group outside. Staff will be allowed to go back and forth between each subdivision but will have to wash their hands with each switch. For the three days off, children will be able to learn at home via the National Broadcast System. Children will need to be sent with food for breakfast from home and will need to sit at separate tables from one another while eating. Each subdivision will have its own dedicated bathroom stall.

While this is a far cry from a return to normal life for a kindergarten, it is a step in restarting the daycare system in Israel.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)