Turkey: Pre-schools to continue face-to-face education

ANKARA

Pre-schools in Turkey will continue face-to-face education despite a recent surge in coronavirus cases, the country's Education Ministry said Friday.

In a statement, the ministry said based on their evaluations face-to-face classes can be held five days a week in all public and private kindergartens and nurseries.

“In pre-schools, face-to-face classes will be held five days a week spread over six sessions a day, and one session will be planned for 30 minutes,” the statement added.

All education and training activities in public and private schools will continue remotely from Nov. 20 to Jan. 4, the statement added.

On Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced partial weekend curfews to stem the spread of the outbreak.

The curfews are effective on weekends from 8 p.m. to 10 a.m.

Cinemas will remain closed until the end of the year.

Malls, markets, and hairdressers will remain open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. throughout the week.

Restaurants will remain open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. to offer takeaway. After 8 p.m., they will only be allowed to take delivery orders.

A partial curfew that was already in effect for people over the age of 65 was also expanded to include those under 20, with the exception of those who have to go out for work. They will be allowed outside their homes from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the week.

As of Thursday, Turkey confirmed over 430,000 patients afflicted by the novel coronavirus and nearly 12,000 deaths due to the virus. A total of 364,573 people recovered from the virus, according to Turkish Health Ministry data.