Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Higher Education, Technology and Innovation Dr. Bandula Gunawardana said universities will re-open on May 11 only for the non-academic staff.
He said academic activities and opening of hostels will take place later after reviewing the health situation.
Minister Gunawardana said some members of the non-academic staff have been asked to report for duty for sterilization carried out in the university premises on the aforementioned date.
He said at present the academic activities of universities are conducted online and the opening of universities for students may take some time as health precautions such as social distancing is not easy to maintain in a university set up.
Education Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said a decision on the reopening of schools under several phases will be taken next week.
Minister Alahapperuma said firstly, steps will be taken to sterilize each school with the assistance of the Local Government institutions in these areas. After sterilization the schools will be closed for four days.
“Thereafter, we have decided to summon all principals and teachers to the schools. Sometimes, we may have to change the timetables of some classes as we have to strictly maintain social distancing among the students,” he said.
In the second phase, we hope to reopen schools for students facing the G.C.E. A/L and O/L examinations. A decision has also been taken to provide thermometers to schools to check the temperature of students at the entrance.
The Minister said the date of the reopening of schools will be decided based on the recommendations and the criteria set out by the Health Ministry. Minister Alahapperuma said they would visit each district to meet the education and school authorities. “Therefore, we hope we would be able to decide on the date of reopening schools next week. However, the decision to reopen schools will be taken under several stages.”