Minister of Education and Higher Education and Secretary General of Supreme Education Council HE Saad bin Ibrahim al-Mahmoud issued yesterday a decision postponing the beginning of the 2009/2010 academic year. As per the decision, the new academic year will begin on October 4 for students in all grades while for the administrative and teaching staffs the new academic year starts tomorrow, according to approved schedules for 2009/2010.

 The decision was taken after consultation with the Supreme Council of Health. An extensive vaccination campaign targeting students and schools staff against seasonal influenza will be conducted in all schools in Qatar from  October 4, as the first stage of the campaign. Earlier, the council issued instructions to all schools on swine flu preventive measures.