TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Ministry of Education (MOE) on Tuesday (May 25) announced that a nationwide closure of schools, which went into effect on May 18, will now be extended to June 14, as coronavirus cases continue to increase among students.

On Tuesday, the MOE announced that 27 more students have tested positive for COVID-19, the most reported on a single day since the start of the pandemic. The total number of students infected with the coronavirus has now reached 145.

In response to the steady surge in cases, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) on Tuesday announced that Level 3 restrictions will be extended to June 14. During the same press conference, Education Minister Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) announced that the closure of schools at all levels, including public and private kindergartens, will be extended to June 14.

Students are to stay at home and continue their coursework via distance learning. The MOE has instructed schools to halt in-person graduation ceremonies and proposed several supporting measures, including parent services, expansion of online teaching resources, and multiple options for conducting final exams, midterms, and make-up tests.

Due to the suspension of classes, many parents have had to take care of their children at home and have used up their special leave. Now the school closures have been extended, and parents are facing difficulties in their work.

Pan appealed to business owners to allow employees to work from home to help them take care of their children. He also called on schools to be more flexible with faculty and staff to enable them to teach online and work remotely.

The MOE has also continued to expand online teaching and learning auxiliary resources, including unit learning resources for various courses on the YouTube channels Yincai.com and DeltaMOOCx. The resources cover subjects such as high school mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and earth sciences.