ISTANBUL — About half of Turkey’s 18 million school-aged students are expected to resume face-to-face education March 1 as schools reopen for the first time since a two-month session in the fall. The move comes amid broader normalization efforts by the Turkish government to phase out of the coronavirus restrictions in low-risk areas amid an ongoing vaccination campaign.

Turkish Education Minister Ziya Selcuk announced the decision Feb. 24 while receiving his first shot of the Chinese-made CoronaVac vaccine during a ceremony marking the launch of an inoculation drive for the nation’s 1.25 million school workers.

“We can perfectly run face-to-face education without any problems,” Selcuk told reporters in the northern city of Corum. “Our schools are ready.”

The news might come as a relief for some working parents unable to meet child care needs as well as students who have been unable to participate in remote learning courses through the Education Ministry’s online class portal. Yet educators and health experts warn school reopenings may be premature amid national COVID-19 infection rates, which surpassed 9,000 daily cases this week for the first time since mid-January.