Senegal has allowed students sitting for national exams back in schools but under strict guidelines that include hand-washing, keeping distances, temperature checks and wearing face masks.

It’s taken weeks of preparation for schools to re-open, including cleaning and disinfection of classrooms.
Learning days will last for six hours ending at 15:00 local time. School lunches have been cancelled and the sale of food in and around schools has been banned.

Parents and teachers are anxious to save the school year. But safety is the priority as the number of Covid-19 cases in the country, especially community transmissions, is increasing.

A High School student at the Lycee Blaise Diagne washes her hands as she arrives for her first day back at school in Dakar on June 25, 2020.
Classroom set-up has changed too. The seating arrangement is one student per table and a maximum of 20 pupils per room, about half the usual in some classrooms.

But not all schools have the capacity to implement the government precautions.
Some of the teachers say the new restrictions have made the task ahead daunting.

The main national examinations will take place in mid-August with a new timetable now in place. And after several weeks of lost classroom time, teachers are anxious to catch up.

A pupil washes his hands with the assistance of the school nurse in Dakar on June 25, 2020.