The Corona Cabinet approved to open the school year as planed on September first

The Corona Cabinet approved tonight (Monday) to open the school year as planed on September 1st. The cabinet has approved the outline for learning in the red cities, according to which a class with a rate of vaccinated and recovering students will be less than 70% will study remotely. In addition, it was decided to apply the green label outline to teaching staff in kindergartens and schools. Unvaccinated workers will not be able to enter the premises of the educational institutions without presenting a vaccination certificate or a valid corona test. At the same time, the cabinet approved vaccinating students in schools during school hours, subject to parental approval. Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman did not participate in the discussion.
While the Ministry of Education urged to open the school year as usual next week, some ministers suggested postponing the opening to October 1 and others suggested resuming it after Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur. The ministers who want to promote the move to open the year in the middle of the month justify this by saying that approval will soon be received to vaccinate the third dose aged 30 and over, so that parents at these ages can be vaccinated to prevent infections among their children.
"According to our estimates, in the coming days the possibility will open up for the 40-30 age group as well. This age group has many young parents, even children who are not of vaccine age. If we wait a few more days for these parents to be vaccinated, the spread of the disease can be stopped. From the schools and kindergartens, "the source of the cabinet's work told Haaretz and estimated that the chances of the cabinet ordering the opening of the school year during the month of September are increasing. Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked also shares this position. In an interview with News 12 tonight, Shaked said she believes "it is better to open after Rosh Hashanah, on September 8, to earn another week of vaccinations."
However, another source in the cabinet estimated that it would be decided to open the school year as usual on September 1 in light of the morbidity halt. Other cabinet officials noted that several ministers, including Amar Bar-Lev and Ze'ev Elkin, had proposed postponing the start of the school year to October 1 to prevent the spread of the disease in the few days between September 1 and the end of the holidays.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett outlined yesterday the outline of the education system's handling of the corona outbreak, which it intends to approve today in the Cabinet. In a post he published, he wrote that post-primary students will be vaccinated and study as usual from September 1. "I call on parents to hurry up and make sure to vaccinate all your children over the age of 12 the week before the start of the school year," Bennett wrote, mentioning that a class or stratum in a red locality that does not have 70% vaccinated students will move to distance learning. "If during the course one of the students is found verified by Corona, the class will continue to study as usual (since everyone will be vaccinated), and we will perform tests for the other students to make sure they are not infected," he added.
Regarding kindergarten and elementary school students, Bennett wrote that he will make sure that "even before the start of the school year, parents will receive a home test kit from Corona (free of charge) and you will be asked to take the test one day before the start of the year." The prime minister explained that in case a child is found positive for Corona he will stay at home, but if he is found negative he will come to school the next day with a note from the parents confirming this. Bennett noted that students will study in ventilated areas or in open areas as much as possible.