The government has announced that the city’s non-tertiary education institutions, namely schools and kindergartens, will start their new academic year early next month as scheduled, while higher education institutions can start in-class teaching late this month, provided that Macau’s COVID-19 situation remains stable.
However, students, teachers and other staff members will be required to “strictly” comply with COVID-19 special measures before being allowed to return to school or campus.
The Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) made the announcements in a statement on Friday.
According to the statement, non-tertiary and higher education students, teachers and other staff members must return to Macau at least 10 days before the start of classes. Cross-border students, teachers and other staff members must return to their usual place of residence, namely Zhuhai or Zhongshan, at least 10 days before the start of classes in Macau.
Most of Macau’s several thousand cross-border students and teachers live in Zhuhai, with the remainder living in Zhongshan.
In addition, according to the statement, all students, teachers and other staff members will be required to present a nucleic acid test (NAT) certificate on the day when the new academic year starts indicating that they have had their swab taken for a COVID-19 test within the past 72 hours.
According to the statement, the required NAT proof will be checked by the respective schools, which can come up with their own methods of checking and verifying their staff and students’ NAT certificates.
The statement also said that kindergartens, schools and higher education institutions should request students, teachers and staff members who fail to return to their usual place of residence, namely Macau, Zhuhai or Zhongshan, in compliance with the required schedules to postpone returning to school or campus accordingly.
The Education and Youth Development Bureau has decided to implement the special COVID-19 measures for students, teachers and other staff members after meetings with the Health Bureau (SSM) and representatives from the city’s education sector, the statement said.
Macau’s latest COVID-19 outbreak that began on June 18 had forced schools to end their latest academic year 2021/22 a little bit earlier than scheduled. Most of the city’s higher education institutions had completed in-class teaching for academic year 2021/22 shortly before the start of the outbreak, which began to subside around three weeks ago.
