Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1253597
10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 MAY 2020 NEWS SCHOOLS in Malta were shut in March but with the COVID-19 pan- demic under control, government is planning to lift restrictions on child care centres and summer schools. They will be the first educational facilities to reopen after almost three months of closure and the health au- thorities have warned that this does not, in fact, signal a retun to complete normality. Mitigation measures are currently being discussed between health pro- fessionals and the educational author- ities to minimise the risk of virus in- fection for children and workers. How the new child care facilities and SkolaSajf programmes will look is anybody's guess at this stage. But it's worth bearing in mind that Malta will not actually be attempting the entirely unprecedented. Denmark was the first European country to reopen schools on 15 April after a one-month lockdown. Phase One saw the country reopen schools and day-care facilities for children aged between 2 and 12, with the sec- ond phase kicking in last week. And research by the Danish health authorities has now revealed that re- opening of schools did not worsen the Maltese parent speaks of Danish schools' 'new normal' Denmark was the first European country to reopen schools in April after a month on lockdown. Antoinette Casha, a mother- of-two, talks to KURT SANSONE about the Danish school experience under the shadow of COVID-19 LAURA CALLEJA ON Sunday Prime Minister Robert Abela announced that childcare cen- tres and SkolaSajf would be amongst the first establishments to re-open when it comes to the next relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions. Abela said children's routines had to be put back in place, and that people had to return to work for the country to really return to normality. "In the next set of measures, we will reopen childcare centres and SkolaSajf. This will mean more parents, to whom we gave wage supplements to stay at home with their children [during the coronavirus lockdown] can return to work," he said. Bright Sparks childcare centre Man- Childcare centres have reacted positively to the news that they will be able to reopen when the government lifts the next set of restrictions Childcare centres see reopening as sign that 'the worst is over'