Skopje, 30 August 2022 (MIA) – Pupils in 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th grade will receive adequate teaching materials by September 1 until their textbooks according to the new curriculums are being prepared, says the Education Ministry on Tuesday. “The distribution of new study materials prepared by the Ministry of Education and Science in cooperation with the Bureau for Development of Education meant for students from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade for the subjects for which new curriculums have been made will be finalized before the new school year starts,” the Ministry states. It adds that the study materials that are going to be used until the new textbooks are done and approved are of good quality. “The students will get quality, creative materials that work through the curriculum for the first trimester. In the meantime, the new textbooks are in the approval phase. They’re all in a different final phase and will be finalized in stages,” the Education Ministry says. It is noted that textbooks for all remaining grades will also be delivered by the end of Wednesday. Also, the Ministry of Science and Education appeals to the management of elementary schools to pick up the study materials and textbooks from the municipal offices and to organize handouts to the students on their first day of school. Earlier, it was reported that textbooks for first, second, fourth and fifth grade will be late this year, because textbooks are “in various stages of approval." These grades have been switched to a new curriculum in line with education reforms that started in the 2021-22 school year, when first graders and fourth graders were given digital textbooks only. A year later, the Ministry of Education and Science said that in order to maintain continuity, together with the Education Development Bureau, it has prepared “appropriate teaching materials for these students to study from at the beginning of the school year.” Textbooks will be available for the other grades following the old curriculum. High schoolers will also receive their textbooks on time. In addition to printed copies, their textbooks should be also available at e-ucebnici.mon.gov.mk. Some 255 thousand elementary and high school students are going back to school on Thursday. dk/ba/