Victoria schools: how Covid-19 lockdown will affect education, remote learning and childcare

As Melbourne moves into stage four restrictions and regional Victoria to stage three, learning and childcare will look different throughout the state.

Here are the new restrictions affecting universities, schools, and childcare and early learning.

Schools

Schools throughout Victoria will return to remote learning across all year levels. Students who were previously attending in-person classes will still attend school on Monday. Tuesday is a pupil-free day and remote learning will start on Wednesday.

Related: Regional Victoria stage 3 Covid-19 restrictions and lockdown rules explained

Year 11 and 12 students, who were previously still attending classes in person, will now be working from home. The six-week restrictions will last until the end of term three.

The government has sent Year 11 and 12s home in regional Victoria, even though it is only in stage three, to ensure a “level playing field” across the state, deputy premier and education minister James Merlino said on Sunday.

Schools will still offer supervision on site for children whose parents have to go to work. However, this supervision will only be “for students who really need it”, premier Daniel Andrews said on Sunday. Vulnerable children, such as children in out of home care, or medically or socially vulnerable children, will also be able to attend school. Special schools will also remain open for students who need them.

Onsite attendance will be allowed for completing mandatory assessments, and for essential cleaning, maintenance and business operations.

There will be more students at school in regional Victoria than in Melbourne as regional Victoria’s economy is more open.

The Victorian government has pledged that Year 12 students will still receive an ATAR by the end of the year. VCE exams will be held at the same time, to finish by 2 December. The general achievement test, for VCE students, will be pushed back from the end of term three to the beginning of term four.

Andrews said on Monday afternoon that he would have more to say about childcare and school later in the week.

Childcare

From Thursday, Melbourne’s early childhood education and kindergarten services will mostly be closed.

“For the first time in our early childhood settings, the only children who will be attending on site will be children of workers in those defined industries or very vulnerable children,” Merlino said.

Childcare centres in regional Victoria remain at stage three, which means they remain open.

Universities and higher education

Related: Melbourne stage 4 restrictions and coronavirus lockdown rules explained

Under Melbourne’s new stage four restrictions, study at TAFE and uni must be done remotely.

In tertiary education settings, on-site attendance will be permitted where it is for certain medical and other research, and care for animals, agriculture and horticulture. Tertiary education facilities will also be able to have people on-site for cleaning, essential maintenance and security, and to provide practical student support that cannot be done remotely.

If remote delivery is not possible, certain qualification or credential activities can be delivered on-site. These are: assessments for safe working practice and infection control, apprenticeships in approved construction, clinical health and biomedical science, commercial cleaning, and aged and disability care.

On Monday morning, Melbourne University said it would close study spaces and cancel in-person classes on Monday and Tuesday, with the exception of some clinical placements. In a statement, it said it was working through the available details of the new restrictions and was awaiting full details from the government.

Monash University said there would be limited students and staff on campuses on Monday and Tuesday for practicals, laboratory workshops and exams that had already been scheduled. Libraries would also remain open. It will return to remote learning from Wednesday.