Primary and secondary schools in Jalisco will reopen fully as of November 16, Governor Enrique Alfaro announced last week.

Although the “hybrid” system combining in-person and distance learning will end, attendance will still be voluntary for the rest of the school year, with parents permitted to keep their children at home if they wish.

Alfaro said 97 percent of schools in Jalisco will return to full classrooms, with the remainder working in small groups because they fail to meet the strict sanitary conditions required.

High schools and universities will be able to make their own decision on when to return to 100-percent capacity classes. 

Alfaro said distance learning will be implemented for the first two weeks of January, to avoid any complications due to the low temperatures.

The decision by Jalisco authorities came soon after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called on education authorities across the nation to reinstate classes at full capacity.

Jalisco Education Secretary Juan Carlos Flores Miramontes said the conditions were right for schools to resume at full capacity, since only a “few dozen” cases of Covid-19 cases among students and teachers are currently confirmed.