A man disinfects a classroom in the capital’s Daun Penh district on Sunday. Heng Chivoan
Public and private educational institutions throughout the country that meet conditions related to hygiene, environment and health measures and can implement the standard operating procedures (SOP) will reopen from September 15.
In Pursat province, governor Mao Thonin said secondary and high schools in seven districts will reopen.
“Before making the decision, we had already checked on the actual situation in those areas,” he said.
Ly Sokunthy, director of the provincial education department, said a total of 54 secondary and high schools will resume on September 15, while another six high schools are still undergoing evaluation for reopening.
In Phnom Penh, governor Khuong Sreng said both public and private schools from grade 7-12 will reopen after missing more than seven months due to the pandemic. If this reopening goes smoothly, the municipal administration will permit kindergartens and primary schools to follow.
In Kandal province, authorities also allowed the reopening of public and private educational institutions ranging from secondary to high schools.
Governor Kong Sophoan said he had decided to allow the reopening of public and private schools for grades 9-12.
Education minister Hang Chuon Naron has also agreed to reopen the Japanese School of Phnom Penh at the request of Koichi Takuma, president of the Japanese Association of Cambodia.
“The school must respect and strictly enforce the contents of the SOP as well as other legal measures in force,” he said.
The Journal of Social and Political Psychology released a statement recently recommending that primary and kindergarten schools should be prioritised for reopening.
“The risk of infection for young kids is quite low and the effectiveness of online learning in this age group is quite low so the school closures may cause a decline in the students’ future incomes,” the report said.
The statement said that a report by the Asian Development Bank issued in May 2021 estimated that the school closures in Cambodia would decrease students’ future incomes by 1.5 per cent.
