7,200 pupils are expected to also make the early return to schools on Monday.

Though the regular academic year will only begin in two weeks, summer school has started today and will last until 10 September. The courses are designed to help pupils freshen up material from the previous year and get ready for the eventual return to class.

The Ministry of Education issued a statement to announce that this year, 1,300 more pupils registered to participate in the programme than in 2020. The initiative was first brought to life last year after the pandemic forced children to study from home for significant periods of time.

Same as last year, courses most in demand in primary schools are German and French, while mathematics is most requested by secondary students.

A total of 550 volunteers will help lead this year's summer school, 80 of which are teachers. Since mid July, an online programme has further been underway, which allows pupils to download homework from 45 different sections. Since the introduction of the platform, close to 34,000 files have been downloaded.

The Ministry of Education also issued a reminder that in case of questions, teachers, students, and parents can call a specific hotline: 8002-90 90.