All schools in Bahrain were yesterday ordered to create isolation rooms and set up specialised teams to monitor pupils for a potential outbreak of swine flu.

Children at all government and primary schools must have their temperature checked on arrival for signs of fever, every day for the first week of the new term, starting next month, said a report in the Gulf Daily News, our sister newspaper.

Schools where swine flu is discovered could be shut for up to a week, it was revealed at a joint Press conference by Education Minister Dr Majid Al Nuaimi and Health Minister Dr Faisal Al Hamer.

Pupils with suspected swine flu will be initially isolated at school, then sent to hospital in co-ordination with their parents, said Dr Al Hamer.

The new government school term has been put back until September 27 (immediately after Ramadan and Eid).

Those private schools due to return on September 1 have been told to put this back to September 6, to put a safety gap between pupils returning from abroad and starting classes, said Dr Al Nuaimi.

Parents of children returning from abroad within six days of the start of term will be obliged to inform the school, he said. Kindergartens, nurseries and rehabilitation centres will follow the dates set for government and private schools.

"All education institutions will have to redo the scheduling of their school year based on the new term dates," said Dr Al Nuaimi. -TradeArabia News Service