the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia developed several recommendations for the 2020-2021 academic year, in line with the regulations of the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs. Based on existing recommendations, the new school year in 2084 public schools will be renewed in classrooms on 15 September.

The regulations of the Ministry of Health address the following issues:

• Maintaining a 1-meter distance between students,
• Mandatory use of facemasks to all people entering the building, except the students,
• All people entering the building must step on a specially placed barrier, and are subjects to thermal screening and hand disinfection,
• Having a stock of facemasks at schools,
• Sanitary treatment of bathrooms,
• Half-hour break between shifts, sanitation and ventilation of classrooms and school common areas,
• Providing a temporary isolation room for students with fever and respiratory symptoms,
• Ventilation of rooms during breaks and between lessons,
• Sanitary treatment of frequently touched surfaces,
• All persons (except students) should wear a facemask when traveling and moving in common areas of the school (including corridors, stairwells, classrooms, etc.), including holidays and day-offs.

Based on the above-mentioned regulations, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia, taking into account the specifics and infrastructure of each school, developed recommendations that will allow all schools to plan the learning process taking into account the individual capacity, number of students and the entire school premises.  

Subsequently, schools will have the opportunity to:

• Determine the duration of the lesson (min. 30-minute lessons);
• Determine the start time of each lesson according to the specific grades / classes (08:30; 08:45; 09:00);
• Define and organize shifts flexibly;
• If necessary, one-shift schools have switched to a multi-shift model and students of different levels can move according to shifts;
• Schools can introduce their own model of mixed (so-called hybrid model, which means learning both in the classroom and remotely), taking into account the safety and infrastructure of students;

The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia made it compulsory for students in grades I-IV to conduct lessons within the school space.

With the introduction of a mixed model by the school administration, if necessary, distance learning in grades V-VI will be possible for a maximum of 1 day per week, in grades VII - XI for a maximum of 2 days, and in XII grade - a maximum of 3 days. The hybrid learning model should be agreed with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia and the Educational Resource Center.

It should be noted that representatives of international organizations, as well as representatives of private and public-school administrations were involved in the planning process of the new school year.

Furthermore, it is important that the best practices of other countries are shared in the development of the recommendations, which includes both the health care of each student and the adherence to the academic standard. Given the current epidemiological situation, the educational process in general education institutions will be resumed on September 15. The Ministry aims to ensure the safety of each student and to create a perfect learning environment.

The Ministry of Education continues to cooperate with the Ministry of Health and the Center for Disease Control and Public Health and will strictly implement all the recommendations that will be made due to the current epidemic situation.