Primary school pupils to return to classrooms in Saudi Arabia

This follows return of older pupils to in-person lessons

Saudi school pupils wearing face masks attend a class in Riyadh. Reuters

Primary and nursery school pupils in Saudi Arabia will return to classrooms for the spring term, the kingdom’s health and education ministries said on Sunday.

The move follows the “safe and successful” return to school of secondary, middle and high-school pupils in August, officials said.

“Those under the age of 12 in public, local international and foreign schools will commence their in-person return as of Sunday January 23, 2022,” the ministries said.

Remote study will continue for those unable to attend owing to medical reasons, they said.

All pupils, in all school years, will sit their exams in-person during the second term, the spokeswoman for public education at the Ministry of Education, Ibtisam Al Shehri, said on Sunday.

Safety protocol and precautions will be continue to be observed, both ministries said.

“We point to the importance of the society’s adjustment to the changes and challenges imposed by the coronavirus pandemic,” Ms Al Shehri said.

More than 52 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered and 23.3 million people are fully vaccinated, Ministry of Health spokesman Dr Mohammed Al Abdulaali said.

“The vaccines have contributed to the reduction in critical cases.”

On Sunday, 3,460 new Covid-19 cases were reported in the kingdom in the past 24 hours and 27,742 breaches of safety precautions were recorded during the past week.

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