Cancun, Q.R. — Ana Isabel Vázquez Jiménez, Quintana Roo Secretary of Education, confirmed that the return to classes will be on the 30th of August adding that the return of face-to-face classes will not be as before.
Once students return, they will attend specific classes on specific days and times, adding that their return is voluntary and not all schools will be able to open by or on the 30th.
“The intention is for parents to be able to drop their children off at school for a few days a week for advice and homework review, while at the same time, maintaining distance education,” she indicated.
Interviewed by Radio Fórmula, she said that schools that do open will have staggered, half-day sessions with small groups of children. She stressed that all returning students will do so on a voluntary basis.
A national meeting with the Secretaría de Educación Pública will be held on the 12th and 13th of August, after which time, protocols for students will be announced, which will differ state-by-state due to the color of the epidemiological light.
On August 9, schools around the state of Quintana Roo will begin the cleaning and restocking process since many were vandalized over the year they were left empty.
“It is a lot of work to do from the replacement of equipment to cleaning and disinfection. It is big task and that is why not all schools will receive students on August 30,” she said adding that teachers will be present to distribute books.
For private schools, she said that they will also have to comply with the health sanitary protocols as set out by the Ministry of Health and the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks.
Earlier this week, state governor Carlos Joaquin announced that the first municipalities to begin with the rehabilitation of the schools were Benito Juárez (Cancun), Felipe Carrillo Puerto and Othón P. Blanco. Since then, a district in Puerto Morelos has been added to the list.