Israel’s Coronavirus Cabinet is scheduled to convene at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday to deliberate on the possible reopening of part of the country’s education system, following the termination of the nationwide lockdown Sunday morning.
Despite the end of the lockdown, numerous restrictions on public activity remain in place, including a ban on in-person studies. Government ministers voted Monday night to extend to ban until Thursday morning.
The Coronavirus Cabinet will consider Tuesdy night a plan to permit the reopening of part of the education system starting Thursday morning.
If approved, the measure would need to be passed by the government to go into effect.
The plan would permit preschools, kindergarten, and elementary schools through grade four to resume in-person studies in towns and cities with low or mid-to-low levels of infection (“green” and “yellow” rated communities).
Unlike a previous plan under consideration earlier this week, the current version would not restart studies for high school students at this time.
“In the coming days we will reopen schools in green and yellow areas,” said Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. “The rest we’ll open gradually, while creating a new ‘traffic light’ plan. The plan will combine data on infection rates and vaccination rates.”