Teachers in Italy returned to work on Tuesday, to prepare for the scheduled reopening of schools across the nation in the coming weeks after a six-month absence.
Some students have also returned to school early to participate in catch-up classes.
Health Minister Roberto Speranza, who participated in a World Health Organization (WHO) video conference with 53 countries on Monday, tweeted: “The right to health and the right to education must go hand in hand.”
The remarks by Conte and Speranza coincided with the closing on Monday of the biggest school in the northern Piedmont region, the Cobianchi high school in Verbania, which had reopened for catch-up classes last week, but has now shut again after a teacher tested positive for coronavirus.
In Rome, a noted private school, St George’s, has delayed its scheduled reopening on September 1 due to the number of positive cases within the school community.
Several regions including Puglia, Calabria and Abruzzo have postponed reopening until September 24, and others are considering doing the same, due to a lack of clarity on protocols set out by the government.
Face masks are mandatory for all children over the age of six when in school except for gym class, eating in canteens and answering a teacher.
Italian authorities said they have delivered 2.4 million individual desks to allow for better social distancing, and will hand out millions of face masks, as well as 170,000 litres of disinfectant gel every week.
Schools across Italy closed in the early stages of the pandemic on March 5 and did not reopen before the end of the 2019-2020 school year.
