ΑΤΗΕΝS — Nurseries and pre-schools will reopen on Monday January 11. Kindergartens and primary schools will also reopen on Monday January 11, as decided by the Education Ministry. 

 Both teachers and pupils must wear a mask at all times in all indoor areas of the school buildings.

There will be antiseptics in all schools, cleaning of all areas will be meticulous, supervised by local government authorities.

Sampling checks will be carried out by EODY at schools, where necessary.

Meanwhile, online distance-education resumed on Friday morning for high school and lyceum pupils in Greece. The health ministry's epidemiology experts' committee will convene next week to re-examine the data on the spread of the virus and decide whether and when there can be a return to school classrooms. 

Teachers of all school levels will be tested for the novel coronavirus for free, based on random selection through the new platform https://edu.testing.gov.gr/ set up by four ministries, it was announced on Thursday.

In addition, the Ministries of Education & Religion, Health, Digital Governance and National Defense invited all teachers to voluntarily sign up at the site for free tests that wil begin on Friday, Jan. 8 ahead of the reopening of primary and special schools on Jan. 11. (Higher grades will resume online classes the same week.)

Selection criteria for testing include sign-up date and region, as well as local test availability. Teachers' credentials will be checked through the national educational platform @sch.gr and a confirmation will be sent via text message (sms) directing them to one of 386 points administering the tests.

According to the registration platform's message to teachers (and students over 16), "Your participation in this effort will help specialists draw a better picture of the dispersion of the coronavirus in Greece, and in the academic community in particular, by identifying the dispersal faster."