PM: Year 12 and 13 classes to resume next month
CLASSES for Year 12 and 13 students will resume on November 1, says Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.
Mr Bainimarama said we are now co-existing with the virus, not conquering it.
He said the Education Ministry would announce the reopenings for other school grades later.
“We needed to give this group priority because many of these students are preparing for university or vocational training, and they are at an important point in their academic careers,” he said.
“So, I want to urge parents who have not made sure their 15, 16, or 17-year-old is vaccinated to do so urgently so that they can be protected and be safe and get back to their normal schooling.”
Mr Bainimarama said the ease of restrictions announcement may almost sound like a full return to the COVID-contained Fiji we knew earlier this year.
“It isn’t. If you think back to that time you’ll remember why.
“Six months ago most of us were not carrying masks with us everywhere we went. Too often people were crowding where they should not have been. Most mobile phones did not have careFIJI installed. The virus felt a world away.
“It isn’t anymore. We are coexisting with the virus, not conquering it, and health experts now say we will have to do so.”
Mr Bainimarama said nearly every nation, including Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji, had accepted that this virus would continue to circulate like the common flu and that vaccines are the most sustainable way forward.
“There will be cases of COVID-19 recorded in Fiji, we can count on that, bBut here is a critical fact: Vaccines will protect us.
“Vaccines ensure that cases –– when they do pop up –– are mild. Moving forward, we’ll be looking at rates of severe cases most carefully.”