Over 700 furloughed public school teachers in the Northern Marianas (CNMI) are expected to return to their jobs by next month.
School materials in CNMI Photo: CNMI Public School System
This comes as the CNMI Public School System prepares for the start of the new academic year under new protocols introduced due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Education Commissioner, Alfred Ada, said the plan was to lift the furloughs by August to allow all the teachers to undergo training for remote learning.
Dr Ada said the system is looking at a mix of online and classroom learning when school year 2020-2021 begins sometime in September.
The school system was also looking at lifting a furlough on its bus drivers as they will also need to be briefed on new safety protocols when students travel on school buses.
Previously, Dr Ada has said strict protocols and social distancing measure would be enforced in the new school year.
He said schools would open with separate morning and afternoon schedules with drastically reduced class sizes.