Most of the students around the World will start a new school year on September 1, 2020. UNICEF reports that 105 of a total of 134 countries that had schools closures due to Covid-19 pandemic have decided to reopen.
Although a lot of youngsters will head back to classrooms and sport gyms, a number of countries will keep schools closed and support youth to continue education at home through digital platforms.
ISF members from France, USA, Israel, Qatar, Greece, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Armenia, Serbia and Slovenia announced that schools in their countries will reopen by adapting a modified model to ensure the safety of students, teachers and staff. Some of them will also restart the school sport activities.
By partnering with health providers, AAU (ISF member from United States of America) has already begun with sport events. Ukraine is planning to restart school sport on 1 October 2020 with an event called “Ukrainian ChallengeFest”. Russian Federation adjusted the plan and will use the online format to hold the scheduled 2020 school sport events. Armenia already organised a football event and a few educational trips across the country.
While some countries are already re-establishing the school sport activities, others are still experiencing schools closures and lockdowns. ISF members from Australia, Peru, Côte d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Bulgaria, India, Morocco, Kenya, Senegal and Brazil report that students will enrol in courses through digital platforms and no school sport activities will take place.
Schools and countries that will restart the physical education lessons and school sport activities will follow the guidelines of their national health organisations. Although precautions differ and depend on the country, most of them include a mandatory mask, reduced classes and number of students, physical distance at all times, taking class outdoors, and taking care of the hygiene and cleaning procedures of the facilities.
Whether attending classes physically or studying from home, ISF sends best wishes to all members, teachers and students going back to school in September.
