Students read books in a classroom at Jinan Experimental Junior Middle School in East China's Shandong province on Feb 7, 2023. [Photo/IC]

Schools will fully resume in-person classroom teaching and are making full preparations for the new semester as around 300 million students and teachers are about to return to school after the country downgraded the management of COVID-19 epidemic, Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan said on Monday.

While inspecting a high school and three universities in Beijing for their preparations for the new semester on Monday, Sun said schools of all levels should optimize their management measures according to the new COVID-19 control measures and fully resume normal teaching and schooling.

Schools need to conduct thorough research on how many students and teachers have been infected before the new semester, she said.

Also, schools should make full use of school clinics, hospitals and medical centers, prepare medical resources, and strengthen the health monitoring of students and teachers, she said.

Primary and secondary schools and kindergartens need to conduct daily health checks and report infectious diseases, and keep record of any absences, Sun said.

Schools are asked to continue to promote psychological education and counseling for students and teachers who have developed anxiety due to the epidemic.

Based on the situation for students, schools are required to properly arrange the teaching schedule and strictly implement the national teaching syllabus and standard to ensure teaching quality, she said.

Education authorities should help schools and teachers to solve difficulties, promote more equitable and higher quality education, and improve people's satisfaction rate of education, she added.