ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region Education Ministry announced Saturday the end of the 2019-2020 academic year for schools across the autonomous region amid the coronavirus pandemic, outlining a plan for different classes to calculate their passing grades.

Schools in the Kurdistan Region have been shut down since March as part of preventive measures to curb the spread of the new disease, which has infected close to 500 people, according to official numbers.

An education ministry decree released Saturday evening said that primary school first through third classes would get an automatic pass since they do not have any finals examinations.

From fourth up to eleventh stage, students’ midterm grades would be used to calculate their total. Should they fail in one or more subjects using this method, they can participate in the summer tests, the ministry said. If students are close enough to passing, curving grades would be applied as additional help.

On June 1, twelfth-grade students would take their finals examinations, in line with health regulations.

The directive added that local non-governmental schools are required to follow the new Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) regulations. Foreign non-governmental education centers can only bring in students for their “international examinations.”

The ministry noted that foreign schools could issue examinations that are related to ones from their countries of origin. And, with the exception of twelfth-grade students, they are not allowed to conduct other tests inside their facilities and must follow KRG regulations, the order said.

This comes as the number of active coronavirus disease cases increase in the Kurdistan Region after authorities relaxed measures in late April. Health Minister Saman Barzinjy has repeatedly expressed his fear that the region will witness a second wave of the disease, calling on the public to adhere to precautionary measures.