According to the Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec), the reopening of the new school term may be pushed back again to 1st June 2021 if the number COVID-19 infections continue to rise.
In its latest announcement on Monday, Obec was reviewing the possibility of the new term being delayed to 1st June from the tentative reopening date of 17th May.
Earlier, the Education Ministry insisted primary and high schools will reopen on 17th May. However, that was before the third outbreak logged more than 2,000 daily infections nationwide.
Obec secretary-general Amporn Pinasa said the ministry was keeping a close watch on the pandemic and assessing the situation.
Mr Pinasa made the statement as he emerged from a meeting with Education Minister Treenuch Thienthong with the new term opening date dominating the agenda.
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The meeting participants discussed the rising daily infections and were updated on containment measures which include a possible partial lockdown in some provinces and a ban on some interprovincial travel.
In Bangkok, dozens of public places where people usually come into close contact with each other, have been closed.
Classes at cram schools and training establishments were also suspended.
Mr Pinasa said the meeting has agreed to monitor the COVID-19 situation over the next couple of days to see if infections can be brought under control.
If not, the opening of the new school term will likely be postponed to 1st June, which will effectively cause admissions to Prathom 1 (Grade 1) and the entrance exams of Mathayom 1 (Grade 7) and Mathayom 4 (Grade 10) to be deferred as well.
Last week, Obec announced that the drawing of lots for the admission of Prathom 1 students had been rescheduled for 2nd May with the registration of new students set for 4th May.
For Mathayom 1, applications will be accepted between 24th-28th April and the admission exams to be held on 6th May with exam results to be announced on 8th May.
For Mathayom 4, applications are also to be submitted between 24th-28th April, and the admission exam is set for 9th May with the results to be announced on 12th May. Schools for the disabled have set application submissions for 24th-30th April and enrolment for 15th May.
“We might have to push the timeline back once again because some provinces have gone into partial lockdown which makes parents and students unable to travel to other provinces for entrance exams,” Mr Pinasa said.
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