Students of the No.1 high school of Jingle County, chat in a dormitory in Jingle County, north China's Shanxi province, March 25, 2020. (CAO YANG / XINHUA)

BEIJING - Secondary schools in China have made full preparation to create a safe and sound environment for third-graders after class resumption, said an official with the Ministry of Education.

The schools have made careful arrangements for the students' study, exam preparation

Most of the junior and senior high schools that have resumed operations have only allowed the return of third-graders as they are facing admission tests for senior high schools or universities, said Wang Dengfeng, director of the ministry's leading group office on the COVID-19 response, in an interview.

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Wang said apart from regular epidemic prevention and control measures, the schools have made careful arrangements for the students' study, exam preparation, as well as psychological counseling if needed.

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While local authorities are considering full resumption of schools, priority has been given to third-graders to ensure they can study safely and uninterruptedly, Wang added.

Nearly 50,000 students return to school in Beijing

According to the Beijing municipal education commission, there are 51,226 students in grade three in Beijing's high schools this year while 49,979 of such students have met the conditions for returning to school. 

More than 1,200 students are temporarily unable to return to school due to various reasons. Among them, more than 800 students are in quarantine in Beijing, and more than 300 students are currently outside the nation's capital.

"Before the school reopening, all the students who returned from other places to Beijing had received 14 days of home quarantine and daily body temperature monitoring. Since April 6, teachers and students returning from other places have undergone nucleic acid testing in addition to 14 days of home isolation. If the results are negative, they are allowed to go back to school," said Wang Jun, Party chief and president of the High School Affiliated to China Agricultural University.

Many high schools have also provided guidance to the students' parents via various ways such as organizing online meetings and sending letters to help students prepare for returning to school.