During the press conference on September 14, 2020, Mohammed Al-Beshri, Adviser to the Minister of Education and Higher Education announced a set of decisions taken by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE) based on the daily evaluation of the blended learning since the return to schools on September 1.

Below are the decisions, which were taken after direct and continuous coordination with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH):

- The blended learning shall remain applicable in all public and private schools while maintaining the approved attendance rate of 30% and observing the precautionary measures.

- Starting next week, parents will be given a choice between proceeding with blended learning or switching entirely to distance learning. This aims at controlling classroom attendance and explanation mechanisms.

Representative of Education Ministry said that starting next week, parents will be given a choice between continuing in the blended learning path or switching to completely distance learning, in order to control the attendance and teaching mechanisms in the classroom. #QNA

— Qatar News Agency (@QNAEnglish) September 14, 2020

- It is necessary to register students' attendance and monitor absence days in both blended and distance learning modes.

 - It is mandatory that students attend exams at schools.

Other points:

- It is necessary for all community members to exercise caution and abide by the precautionary measures and social distancing in daily life. This will help them protect themselves and their families and will facilitate the continuity of the educational process.

- The school environments are even safer. The investigation of the cases spotted in a few schools and classrooms found that the infection occurred outside schools and that it was transmitted to the school community.

- In case of discovering any cases, it is necessary to follow the applicable protocol in coordination with the MoPH. Accordingly, students in any infected classroom should not be allowed to attend school and should be called to conduct swab tests by the MoPH.

 - In the event of any classroom closure, the school management must notify the parents that classroom students of the closure via SMSs.

- If the entire school is closed, this will be announced by the Ministry as per the currently applicable protocol.

- If the number of COVID-19 cases increases, a recommendation will be made to suspend the respective classroom or school and switch to distance learning.

The Ministry urges the community to not pay attention to rumors and only refer to reliable sources for any developments and/or updates related to education under the current COVID-19 situation.

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Source: MOEHE