The Education Minister says the phased reopening of schools will only go ahead if Irish society acts responsibly.
Over 300,000 students in the first four years of primary school, and Leaving Cert pupils, will return to class on Monday.
The other years are due to return on March 15th and April 1st, after studying at home since Christmas.
But Minister Norma Foley says that plan could change if Covid cases increase.
“It’s very much dependent on how society and wider society reacts in the next number of weeks. The burden of responsibility is on all of us to ensure that are numbers keep coming down, and that hospitalisation decreases. The further reopening is very much dependent on that, and we all have a role to play in it. The benefits will be enormous, particularly in this instance from a schools point of view, it will allow us the opportunity to further reopen the schools.”
