Sri Lanka re-opens schools in Western Province for higher grades

Colombo (Sri Lanka), January 26: Sri Lankan authorities on Monday re-opened schools in the Western Province for senior grades after shutting them down since October last year due to a vast spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, local media reported here.
The Education Ministry in a statement said schools re-opened for students who would be sitting for the GCE Ordinary Level examinations in March under strict health guidelines imposed by the Health Ministry.
All classrooms were disinfected on Sunday while students were informed to wear masks and maintain social distance.
However schools in areas declared as isolated due to the virus spread would continue to remain closed.
The Education Ministry said that 79,000 students from the Western Province will appear for the GCE Ordinary Level Examination which will be held in March and the decision to re-open schools was taken to expedite their missed studies.
Sri Lanka's Western Province has been declared as a hot bed by the health authorities since a second wave of the pandemic swept through the country in early October.
The country has to date detected 58,430 infected patients, out of which 49,684 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospitals, bringing down the active patient count to 8,463.
A total of 283 deaths have been reported from the virus.
Source: Xinhua