Morocco postpones school opening until October amid Covid-19 wave

Morocco's education ministry has announced they will push back the start of the 2021 academic year to 1 October, as the threat of Covid-19 continues to loom.

In a statement, the ministry gave a number of reasons for postponing the start of the school year, which was due to begin on 10 September, Morocco World News reported.

They included fears surrounding Morocco's health crisis and the need to achieve herd immunity against Covid-19 among educators through the vaccination programme.

The ministry stated this will help avoid a surge in Covid cases across the country when schools eventually open and maintain recent progress in fighting the disease.

The delay comes despite a decrease in Covid-19 cases in Morocco, with daily infections falling by more than 4,500 in the past three weeks, according to Reuters. 

The postponement will apply to all private and public sector university institutions, vocational training centres, and traditional educators, the ministry said.

The postponement will allow for appropriate adjustments to be made for in-person education when schooling resumes, the report added.

Almost 35 million vaccines have been administered in Morocco so far, according to the COVAX programme.

Just last week, Morocco averaged 323,110 doses administered daily, Reuters reported.

There have been 886,008 Covid infections and 13,145 related deaths since the pandemic began.

The New Arab has contacted the Moroccan Embassy for comment on Rabat's decision.