And what about those kids, for whom a summer program may not be enough of a catch-up?
Here's what the minister told us when we asked him if those mid-pandemic mandatory class promotions had been extended into this academic year.
Reporter
"Have schools been instructed to promote children to the next grade no matter what the stage of their education is right now?"
Hon. Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education, Culture
"Absolutely not. In fact, in many schools across the country, we are talking now primary schools, students will have to repeat and do an additional year and its true also at the secondary level in lesser numbers, but no such instructions - we would not engage in that. That would be foolish, it would be misguided. We have to understand where our students are, what they have lost and we have to work on addressing those gaps that have been identified."
Reporter
"Is there any plan to reopen school early, earlier in August?"
Hon. Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education, Culture
"We have discussed that issue. Obviously, it's not a decision we can make on our own. We have to consult and engage with our teacher's union for example and our other stakeholders - the managing authorities, so that's not an easy one. We discussed it, but so far no, no decision has been made to open school early."
As you heard the minister say, deliberations with the unions and with parents are not yet complete so a mid-summer start to school could still be a possibility.
