WILLEMSTAD - The new school year will start as planned next Thursday. Minister of Education Sithree van Heydoorn announced this during the press conference this afternoon.
Extensive consultations have taken place between the school boards and schools and the Ministry. Protocols have been developed based on this consultation.
Students under the age of 12 have shown that they do not become infected easily and that they run relatively few health risks. Therefore, apart from strict hygiene rules, no more intensive measures are needed for this group.
Stricter measures apply to secondary school students because more infections have occurred in this age category. For this reason it was decided to keep the groups small; with a maximum size of 15 students, where possible 25.
Education unions have not been involved in the preparations, according to Minister van Heydoorn, because in his opinion they do not have the right knowledge and expertise.