Schools in Fiji will stay closed until cleared

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Students of Rishikul Sanatan College after school in Nasinu earlier this month. Picture: SOPHIE RALULU/FILE

Schools in Fiji will stay closed until the Government is sure that the impacts of the underwater volcanic eruption in Tonga have cleared our waters in the event some of it need to be activated as evacuation centres.

Attorney-General and acting PM Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said they planned to re-open schools for Years 8 – 13 once the weather situation cleared up.

He said over the past eight months that schools were closed, more than 200,000 children in the country lost more than 1000 hours of in-person learning each.

“That is 200 million hours of lost in-person learning and we cannot afford many more,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

“Supported by our clear COVID protocols for classroom safety, developed with UNICEF and the WHO, the date for the reopening of schools for all the students will be announced once all evacuation centres are cleared and the warning on tsunamis and severe weather are lifted.”

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