Cambodia to reopen universities

Cambodia's Ministry of Education has approved the reopening of public and private universities after majority of the country's population has been vaccinated against Covid-19.

Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron said in a statement on Monday that educators and students, who have been fully vaccinated, are given priority to return to in-person classes, while those older than 50 years old or have underlying health conditions are advised to continue learning or teaching online, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The number of educators and students in a classroom must not be more than 20," he said.

"To keep social distancing, students have to sit at least 1.5 meters from each other."

Naron said before reopening, universities have to sign a memorandum of understanding with the ministry on implementing the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and other existing rules in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

The latest move came after Cambodia has seen great success in its Covid-19 vaccination campaign, which began in February.

Till date the Southeast Asian nation has administered at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccines to 13.12 million people, or 82 per cent of its 16-million population, according to the Health Ministry.

Of them, 10.88 million, or 68 per cent, have been fully vaccinated with both required shots, and 869,680, or 5.4 per cent, have received a booster dose.

The kingdom reopened secondary and high schools on September 15 in areas with low infection rates - IANS