A woman in Saudi Arabia was keen to mark the day of her child’s return to school after a long hiatus due to COVID-19 in a particular, memorable style.

She hired a folk band that played in front of the boy’s school, Saudi news portal Al Marsd reported.

An online video showed the band playing amid a festive atmosphere outside the school, the location of which was not given.

The mother’s act was in fulfilment of an earlier promise she made to celebrate the reopening of schools for class attendance.

On Sunday, over 3.5 million students in elementary schools and kindergartens returned to in-person classes across Saudi Arabia for the first time in nearly two years.

Their return also came more than four months after students at higher education levels attended classes in the kingdom.

As part of precautions, the usual morning lines are cancelled for students who head directly to their classes.

Also, extracurricular activities that do not guarantee distancing are ruled out. Classes and utilities of schools are to be sterilised daily.

Earlier this month, the Saudi ministries of education and health said that the decision to resume in-person classes is due to success of earlier return of intermediate and secondary school students to class attendance and "the kingdom's efforts to reach high herd immunity".

The new academic year started in Saudi Arabia in late August with a revival of in-person classes for intermediate and secondary school students after a halt of more than a year prompted by the COVID-19 outbreak.