KUWAIT: The special committee formed by Hawally educational zone to set the timings to be followed during the 2020-2021 new school year in the primary stage (grades 1-5) in public and Arabic private schools proposed that students will only go to school for two days a week and study online in the remaining days in case a partial curfew is placed, and do all schooling in actual classes in case of no curfew.

According to the suggested plan published by Al-Rai daily yesterday, classes will be of 30 minutes each and the school day will be for three hours and a half, during which pupils will study the Holy Quran, Islamic studies, Science and Social Studies, in addition to three daily periods for Arabic, English and Maths. The plan also suggested that Art, PE, Music and Computers should be co-curricular interactive activities.

The plan also focused on assessment of pupils of grades 1-5 and allocated 80 percent of the grades to activities, participation and assignments, 10 percent for conduct and 10 percent for the final assessment. It also suggested doing all assignments through the smart educational portal and using social media programs to meet parents in view of the global uncertainty concerning COVID-19 and the fact that no cure has yet been developed.

Accordingly, the plan includes three possible scenarios - the first phase (code red) of total curfew, phase two (code yellow) of partial curfew with strict preventive measures and phase three (code green) of the end of the pandemic and resumption of normal life. The 2020/2021 academic year starts on October 4 for all stages. The current plan is to have intermediate and high school students take their classes online, while the ministry is still exploring options regarding teaching of kindergarten and primary school students.

In other news, Al-Anbaa daily reported yesterday that a number of public school teachers arrived from Tunisia recently, as teaching staff prepare to return to work September 1 ahead of the start of the new school year. The returning teachers will remain in home quarantine for one week from the date of arrival before they are allowed to report to work, said sources quoted in the report.