Beijing students will go back to school in batches in the coming fall semester beginning August, as the coronavirus epidemic has waned in the city.

According to the notice released by Beijing education authorities on Sunday, students of one-to-twelve grades are scheduled to go back to school from August 29 to September 7. Kindergarten students will return from September 8 to 11.

Universities, colleges and higher vocational institutions capable of epidemic prevention and control can arrange freshmen to register and other students to return in batches since beginning 15. Schools themselves can decide the specific time of returning according to their own conditions but have to report and get approval from local authorities.

The after-school training institutions can also apply for resuming in-person classes and other collective events.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in late January, most schools across China have moved their classes online. It was until early March that schools in northwest China's Qinghai Province became the first in the country to resume in-person class, and schools in Beijing and hardest-hit Hubei Province were among the last to resume gradually since late April.

But because of a new wave of COVID-19 cases in Beijing in June, some university students did not have a chance to return to Beijing campus during the whole spring semester. Therefore, the notice marks a full reopening of schools.

Universities in other low-risk regions of China are also preparing to welcome students back to campus. Anhui Medical University has already had its first batch of freshmen registered on campus, the first in the country. And Wuhan University announced to start the fall semester on September 6.

(Cover image via CFP)