Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) Monday said the new school year will begin on television to safeguard the lives of students and teachers.
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"Today, elementary and high school students begin their new school cycle, which has all the validity as it will be done with professionalism," AMLO said.
He thanked parents for making it possible to restart classes, teachers for guiding children, and television networks for broadcasting educational content.
Education Minister Esteban Moctezuma explained that classes will be taught through television, which 94 percent of Mexican families have, and through radio for remote communities with translations into 22 indigenous languages.
He assured teachers have helped to make the scripts of the TV programs and explained that five television channels will provide the contents of all educational courses.
On March 20, Mexico officially closed its schools due to the pandemic. However, some public and private schools were ahead of this measure and had closed their activities earlier.
In the past school year, the suspension of face-to-face classes affected some 250,000 elementary schools, 18,000 high schools, and 4,000 universities.
As of Monday morning, Mexico had reported 560,164 COVID-19 cases and 60,480 deaths.