Schools in green zones in 90 cities and regencies will be allowed to reopen in phases from July for the 2020-2021 school year.

Areas deemed ‘safe’ but precautions must be in place from July, says minister

THE Education and Culture Ministry has announced that the country will allow phased reopening of schools located in Covid-19 low-risk areas, or “green zones”, starting in July.

A joint ministerial decree by the education minister, religious affairs minister, home minister and health minister was announced on Monday to regulate the school reopening during the pandemic.

“We’ll allow schools in green zones to reopen,” Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Makarim said in Monday’s press conference.

“Around 90 cities and regencies across Indonesia are considered green zones.

“The number of students in those areas is roughly equivalent to 6% of all students in the country.

“This means the remaining 94 %still have to continue their education through online learning,” added Nadiem.

According to the ministry’s official academic calendar, the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year is slated for July 13.

In the press conference, national Covid-19 task force chief Doni Monardo said the task force had mapped the risk status of all regions in the country that were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic based on 15 indicators from the World Health Organisation.

The indicators, which comprise the number of new cases, suspected cases and fatalities (among other factors), determine whether the regions fall into the green, yellow, orange or red category.

“The status of a region could change easily based on the progress of Covid-19 transmission in the area,” Doni said.

Nadiem explained that the ministry would hand the final decision to reopen schools in certain green zones to their respective regional administration. “Even if the local administrations decide to reopen schools, the schools still have to fulfil our strict requirements and health protocols before reopening,” he said.

For the reopening, the schools are required to have clean toilets, hand-washing facilities, disinfectant, thermal guns and access to health facilities.

They should also provide areas where wearing a face mask is mandatory.

“Students, teachers or parents who are sick or have a co-morbidity are advised not to go to schools.”