Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday evening convened the so-called coronavirus cabinet to discuss the upcoming school year, the opening of which has been clouded by the resurgence of COVID-19 in the country.
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The ministers decided that schools will reopen as scheduled on Sept. 1, while adhering to strict public health guidelines seeking to find the balance between the needs of the economy and keeping the pandemic at bay.
It remains unclear whether the school year will actually kick off in time, as the teachers union and parents' groups are at odds over vaccinating children over the age of 12 at school.
Nevertheless, the ministers ruled that students will be vaccinated on school grounds during school hours, as needed and subject to parental approval, saying that come Sept. 1, students younger than 12 – currently the youngest age when the vaccination can be administered – will be required to present parental approval to perform an antigen test.
According to the outlined approved on Sunday, students in grades 8-12 in red cities where morbidity is high will only gradually return to school. A class where the number of vaccinated students is lower than 70% will move to online learning, while classes where over 70% of students have been vaccinated could resume in-class studies.
The cabinet further decided that the "green pass" outline would also apply to teaching staff in kindergartens and schools.
With the High Holy Days beginning on Sept. 6 and falling on weekdays this year, there are actually only a handful of school days until October. This prompted called by ministers and parents alike to delay the school year, at least in preschools and lower grades, where they are not eligible for a vaccine, to Oct. 1, but the teachers union opposed the move.
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