In-person schooling to gradually return in some areas

The Home Front Command announces new location-based guidelines for schools, gatherings, funerals and workplaces.

The Home Front Command’s decision allows schools and kindergartens to implement physical learning in new locations, under the emergency system already set up, which requires adequate safety measures and permission from relevant authorities, the Education Ministry says in a separate statement. The new locations where this will be allowed are: Dan area of central Israel, the Shefala, the Dead Sea and the Bekaa Valley.

The ministry notes that “this is a gradual return to an emergency learning routine, which will be carried out while protecting and maintaining the security and safety of students.”

In the areas surrounding Gaza, as well as along the northern border, only remote learning is allowed. In Jerusalem and most central areas, schools are allowed to operate if students and staff are able to reach a bomb shelter during an air raid siren.

Most children in Israel have been off school for several weeks, with a break that began during the Jewish holidays.