South Australian schools have reopened for term two with early indications showing close to 60 per cent of children returned to class, after a low of 30 per cent before the holidays.
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Health officials insist schools have a low risk of coronavirus infections and the government is confident attendance will keep increasing.
Monday's return came amid technical issues with the government's online learning platform and as SA posted its fifth consecutive day of no new virus cases, easing the concerns of parents.
Premier Steven Marshall said the picture would become clearer in the coming days but described Monday's result as a vote of confidence in public health officials.
"Anecdotally we've seen fantastic numbers in our schools today," Premier Marshall said.
"We are looking forward to seeing the numbers continue to increase in the weeks ahead."
Education Minister John Gardner said the health advice was clear that "preschools and early childhood facilities are low-risk environments and should remain open".
"This is great news for our community, but it will present some complexity in our schools over the next week or two as we start to transition back to more face-to-face teaching," the minister said.
"We know that physically attending school provides a better learning environment for young people, with access to specialist facilities and more opportunities to talk with teachers and fellow students."
Should a staff member or student test positive to the virus, schools and preschools will close for at least 24 hours to undertake deep cleaning and an investigation process.
Parents across SA remain free to keep their children at home if they have concerns, with all schools able to provide remote learning options.
However, Deputy Opposition Leader Susan Close said there were widespread reports that the online learning portal had crashed on Monday after being inconsistent last term and throughout the holidays.
She said there were reports that schools in both the country and the city could not make the online platform work for students learning from home.
"Parents are anxious about whether to send their children to school or whether to keep them back, and having a technological difficulty just makes it all the worse," she said.
Australian Associated Press
