The night before hundreds of thousands of Israeli preschoolers returned to their classrooms on Sunday, Education Ministry Director-General Shmuel Abuav told Channel 13 News that 4th through 6th graders could return to their classrooms in a week and all students within three weeks if there is no significant increase in coronavirus infections in the next week.

“We are gradually moving step by step,” Abuav said. “The past week, elementary schools, 11th and 12th grade, special education and at-risk youth programs were opened. We will open the kindergartens and after school programs this week. And immediately, if no problems arise, we will proceed to 4th through 10th grade, and then evaluate the situation regarding summer vacation.”

Hundreds of thousands of children in daycares, preschools, and kindergartens returned to school on Sunday but hundreds of thousands of additional children remained at home due to various restrictions that limit the number of children the schools can accept at one time.

Since classes are being limited to 18 children, preschoolers will be attending only three days a week, with half the children attending from Sunday through Thursday and the other half from Wednesday through Friday. The schedules will be rotated weekly since many parents don’t work on Friday.

Inside the kindergartens, the children will be divided into groups of nine, with each group separated from the others at all times. Parents will not be allowed to enter the kindergartens, a particular hardship after children have been at home for almost two months.

Daycares are also limiting the number of children to 17 per group and currently there is only space for about 70% of eligible children.

Children in 1st through 3rd grade and 11th and 12th grade high school students returned to their classrooms last week.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)