School Reopening ‘Delegated to Provinces’; Tehran to Remain Virtual Until Further Notice
A provincial education official announced on Wednesday, August 20, that decisions on how to reopen schools in the new academic year have been delegated to provinces based on their coronavirus situation.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Tehran’s education department announced that if Tehran’s situation remains red until September 6, “all classes at all levels will be held virtually until further notice.”
Mohammad Saidlu, director general of education for Tehran districts, stated after announcing the delegation of decision-making to provinces that all education departments must be prepared to provide educational services in white, yellow, and red condition scenarios for students.
Masoud Soghfi, spokesman for Tehran’s education department, while announcing that classes will be virtual until further notice in Tehran, made an exception for first-grade students, saying that due to “the need for emotional connection between first-grade students and teachers, they may attend school in the first one or two weeks while observing health protocols.”
Earlier, Rezvan Hakimzadeh, deputy for primary education at the Ministry of Education, stated that 3 million 225 thousand students lack access to tablets or smartphones to join the “Shad” network and face the risk of “educational dropout.”
The Shad network was launched by the Iranian government following the outbreak of coronavirus in Iran and the closure of schools for distance learning of students.
Currently, according to official announcements by the Ministry of Health, the provinces of Mazandaran, Tehran, Qom, Golestan, North Khorasan, Ardabil, Isfahan, Alborz, Razavi Khorasan, Kerman, Semnan, East Azerbaijan, Central, Yazd, and Gilan are in red condition.
Additionally, the situation in the provinces of Fars, Ilam, Lorestan, Hormozgan, Zanjan, Qazvin, West Azerbaijan, Bushehr, Hamadan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad has been announced as “alert status.”
Source: Radio Farda
