Reopening schools "left to provinces"; Tehran, in-person until further notice

A provincial education director announced on Wednesday, August 10, that the decision on how to reopen schools in the new academic year will be left to the provinces, depending on their situation regarding the coronavirus.

At the same time, the Tehran Education Department spokesperson announced that if Tehran's situation remains red until September 5, "all classes in all grades will be held in person until further notice."

Mohammad Saydlo, Director General of Education for Tehran's cities, announced that the decision would be handed over to the provinces, adding that all education departments must be prepared to provide educational services to students in white, yellow, and red conditions.

Despite announcing that classes would be held in person in Tehran until further notice, Masoud Saghafi, a spokesman for the Tehran Ministry of Education, also made an exception for first-grade students, saying that due to "the need for emotional connection between first-grade students and teachers, they may go to school in the first week or two, while observing health protocols."

Previously, Rezvan Hakimzadeh, Deputy Minister of Primary Education at the Ministry of Education, had said that 3.25 million students are unable to join the "Shad" network due to not having a tablet or phone and are facing the risk of "falling behind in education."

The Shad Network was launched by the Iranian government for distance education of students after the outbreak of the coronavirus in Iran and the closure of schools.

Currently, according to the official announcement of the Ministry of Health, the provinces of Mazandaran, Tehran, Qom, Golestan, North Khorasan, Ardabil, Isfahan, Alborz, Khorasan Razavi, Kerman, Semnan, East Azerbaijan, Markazi, Yazd, and Gilan are in red status.

The provinces of Fars, Ilam, Lorestan, Hormozgan, Zanjan, Qazvin, West Azerbaijan, Bushehr, Hamedan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad have also been declared a "state of alert."

Source: Radio Farda