Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Uzbekistan proposes to start a new academic year in schools from 14 September 2020. This was announced by the Minister of Public Education Sherzod Shermatov in his Telegram channel.

He recalled that experts have developed three scenarios for the start of the school year, depending on the epidemiological situation: the resumption of studies in the traditional format, online training and a hybrid format (both traditional and online).

The minister added that as an experiment a week earlier (on 7 September), it is planned to open several schools in green areas in order to study the full and correct implementation of safety measures in the educational process.

Sherzod Shermatov noted that about 1 million people took part in a survey by the Ministry of Public Education about the readiness of parents to send their children to schools in a pandemic. 70% of parents said they agree to study at home online, and 30% are ready to send their child to school.

The minister stressed that the third, hybrid scenario remains the most optimal option. In this scenario, parents choose the form of education.

The head of the Ministry of Education and Science noted that the situation with the coronavirus cannot be resolved in the near future. “Even if a vaccine is developed, it will take time for it to pass all safety tests, be produced and delivered to us. Therefore, at this time, our children should not lag behind in education,” he added.

At the same time, Shermatov also wrote about the measures that will be introduced in schools. In particular, children will not come to school at the same time, their temperature will be measured, all classes will be held in the same class (teachers will come to classes), rooms will be ventilated during breaks, and the rules of social distance will be explained to students.

The Minister noted that the Ministry of Education and Science is conducting a survey among parents. Each parent must make an independent decision, based on their conditions, whether to send their child to school for traditional form of education or leave him at home and continue to study online.