Kindergarten students at a school in Hà Nội. The capital city has allowed the reopening of preschools from April 13. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Around 600,000 kindergarten students in Hà Nội will return to schools on April 13 after a year of strictly online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Hà Nội People’s Committee has given the go-ahead on Friday afternoon following the municipal Department of Education and Training’s proposal to resume in-person learning for preschool students in all 30 urban and outlying districts and townships across the city.

About 80 per cent of parents said they are willing to bring their children back to preschools, according to the education department.

Hà Nội People's Committee asked the municipal education department to coordinate with the health department to regularly update and follow related regulations to ensure COVID-19 prevention and control at schools. 

Local authorities of districts and townships are entrusted with increasing supervision and examining the implementation of COVID-19 prevention and control at schools. 

Hà Nội is the last locality among 63 provinces and cities nationwide to allow kindergartens to resume in-person learning.

Schools in the city have reopened to all students from first to sixth grades on Wednesday, with the rate of students returning reaching 94 per cent.

The number of new COVID-19 cases has kept dropping in the capital, with 2,897 new infections recorded on Friday, only a fraction of the peak in March.

Việt Nam is preparing to inoculate children aged 5 to 11 years old in the second week of April with Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines whereas the first batch of Moderna vaccines for children is expected to be delivered to the country on May 10. —VNS