Skopje, 1 September 2021 (MIA) – Everyone in favor of students’ healthy psychosocial development is in favor of their return to classrooms. We all lost a lot last year due to the global pandemic, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said in a video address on Wednesday, wishing a successful school year to all students and teachers. He added that there’s no better alternative to in-person classes, noting efforts have been made to ensure their safety. Moreover, he urged stakeholders to be responsible and abide by protocols. “I’d like to thank teachers, as well as parents, who managed the challenges of online classes and didn’t let children fall behind. Now is the time to make up for what we missed due to restrictions. According to teachers, students and organizations, there’s no better alternative to in-person classes. The government, together with the Education Ministry, made efforts to ensure students’ safety. In order to curb the spread of COVID-19 in schools, stakeholders must be responsible and abide by protocols,” Zaev stressed. He said that the Ministry of Education has prepared plans for several scenarios. “We’re all carefully monitoring the epidemiological situation and adapt to it. It’s important to be responsible outside of schools as well. We call on adults to get vaccinated, so that children have greater freedom in schools. If we all abide by measures we can make this the last pandemic school year. We’re all in this together, so support and cooperation with parents, students and teachers is welcome. We have to show understanding and awareness,” the PM said in the video message.