Kandal: Governor of Kandal Province, Kong Sophoan, says the Kandal Provincial Administration has allowed the reopening of public schools for grades 9-12, effective from Wednesday. He added that the reopening of secondary schools in the province was preceded by checks of facilities in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedures of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. All in all, 140 schools have been given the go-ahead to reopen.

Kong Sophoan also took the advice of the Department of Education, Youth and Sport to strengthen systems to promote health and safety in education to contribute to risk reduction, prevention and control of the spread of Covid-19. There should be a safety gap of 1.5-metres at all school locations, including desks and chairs in the classroom. Health rules should be strictly implemented, most especially the “3 do’s and 3 don’ts”.

Director of the Department of Education, Youth and Sport in Kandal, Cheng Sam Ol, says for secondary schools who are qualified in accordance with the Ministry’s SOPs, Grade 9 has a total of 12,798 students back in class, Grade 10 has 10,399 students, Grade 11 has 8,697 students and Grade 12 has a total of 8,100, making the total number of the province’s students who have returned to school 39,994.