As pupils in Turkey returned to classes on Monday after a long COVID-19 break, the nation’s president vowed to maintain in-person learning with strict measures in place.

“With the digital infrastructure we have established at the National Education Ministry, we closely monitor and will follow the processes in our schools and the course of the disease. We are determined to continue in-class learning,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a ceremony in an Istanbul school, marking the first day of the new term.

Touching on the adverse impact of the pandemic on education, he said: “As Turkey, we had to act carefully during the last academic year because of the extent of the deadly effect of the virus.

“We have exercised extreme caution not to risk the lives of our teachers, children, and their families. We left behind the period when we opened our schools from time to time but mostly held lessons via the EBA,” which stands for Educational Informatics Network, the TV and internet platform through which most of the distant education was carried out in Turkey.

Erdogan said the National Education Ministry and Health Ministry set the rules and measures to be taken at schools.

“By supplying hygiene and cleaning materials and masks, we formed an infrastructure through which the parents will send their children to school safely,” he continued.

The course of the disease will be followed closely via the digital infrastructure at the National Education Ministry, Erdogan said, calling on all citizens to get vaccinated.

“The total number of doses that have been administered as part of our vaccination campaign that we maintain on the basis of volunteering nears 100 million,” he added.

As schools have reopened for face-to-face learning after a long break since March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, some 18 million students will attend classes five days a week.

Breaks and meals times will be scheduled for different intervals to avoid crowds. Classes will be held in 40-minute periods at most.

School administrations will provide free-of-charge masks for students and school personnel in case anyone needs them.

Unvaccinated teachers and school staff will take PCR tests twice a week. Parents and visitors will not be admitted to schools except in mandatory situations. School authorities can check the visitors’ HES code – coronavirus contact tracing system – to see whether they are “risk-free.”

Turkey has so far confirmed over 6 million coronavirus cases and 52,860 deaths, while nearly 80% of the country’s adult population has received at least one dose of a two-shot vaccine./aa

China has announced a ban on written exams for six and seven-year-olds.

It's the latest effort to try and relieve pressure on parents and students in a highly competitive education system.

Students used to be required to take exams from the first year of primary school, up until a university entrance exam at the age of 18.

But the education ministry said the pressure is harming the "physical and mental health" of pupils.

In a statement, the ministry said: "Exams are a necessary part of school education.... [but] some schools have problems like excessive exams, that cause excessive burden on students...this must be corrected."

The rules also limits the number of test and exams a school can set per term.

"First and second grades of elementary school will not need to take paper-based exams. For other grades, the school can organise a final exam every semester. Mid-term exams are allowed for junior high. Localities are not allowed to organise regional or inter-school exams for all grades of primary school," the Ministry of Education (MOE) added.

"Non-graduating junior high students are also not allowed to organise weekly tests, unit exams, monthly exams etc. Examinations disguised under various names like academic research is also not allowed."

Reaction on China's social media platform Weibo was mixed with some saying it was a step in the right direction to relieve pressure on children. Others questioned how schools will test and measure abilities without exams.

The announcement is part of wider reforms in China's education sector.

In July, Beijing stripped online tutoring firms operating in the country of the ability to make a profit from teaching core subjects.

The new guidelines also restricted foreign investment in the industry and disrupted the private tutoring sector which was worth around $120bn (£87bn) before the overhaul.

At the time, the move was seen as authorities trying to ease the financial pressures of raising children, after China posted a record low birth rate.

Education inequality is also a problem - more affluent parents are willing to spend thousands to get their children into top schools.

The country's obsession with education also affects property prices, with wealthier parents snapping up property in school catchment areas.

China's Ministry of Education has also banned homework for first graders this year, and limited homework for junior high school students to 1.5 hours a night, according to an AFP report.

Turkey will resume face-to-face learning five days a week beginning Sept. 6, the nation’s education minister said Thursday. 

Mahmut Ozer said the country wants to continue full-time face-to-face learning unless health conditions dictate otherwise.

"Education in schools will be carried out without reducing class hours while being committed to the entire existing curriculum," said Ozer.

He said the vaccination rate for teachers who received at least one dose of a two-shot vaccine is 80.34% as of Wednesday, and the rate is 69.73% for a second jab.

Ozer also said vaccinations will not be mandatory but necessary measures will be taken by the Health Ministry.

School administrations will provide masks to students and school personnel free of charge in case anyone needs them.

Turkey has administered more than 87 million COVID-19 vaccine doses since launching a mass immunization campaign in January.

According to the Health Ministry, the country confirmed 19,320 new infections and 216 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, while as many as 14,743 more patients recovered.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that PCR tests, which will be mandatory for unvaccinated teachers, staff, and university students when academic activities resume Sept. 6, will be conducted for free at public hospitals.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed more than 4.39 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with an excess of 209.67 million cases reported worldwide, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University,/aa