The Education Minister says the reopening of schools in February will depend on the general public's behavior over the coming weeks.
Norma Foley also said considerable planning has gone into having a traditional Leaving Cert this year, with papers being adjusted to give students more choice.
However, she said all options for the exams are considered.
It comes as some students have expressed concern about how much school they've missed between this year and last.
Minister Norma Foley told Newstalk Breakfast the public needs to adhere to guidelines in order to allow students to go back to school.
She said: "There was a view [from NPHET] that the full reopening of our schools would be problematic.
"The education sector is playing its part to reduce mobility - we need wider society now to reduce mobility and its contacts.
"If wider society does as its being asked to do, then certainly in the review at the end of January... we will most certainly be in a position to reopen our schools. But it does depend on what wider society will do."
Meanwhile, some special needs classes are set to resume as early as next week.
Minister Foley said she's confident the logistics can be worked through to allow those classes resume next week, although acknowledged individual schools may have particular issues that need to be worked through.
Leaving Cert
Minister Foley said 'considerable planning' has already happened for this year's Leaving Cert, after an 'extraordinarily difficult' year for students.
She said: "Adjustments have been made to exam papers so wider options are provided.
"Significant latitude has been given in our planning so we could accommodate the change in deadline for course work should we need to do that - and we had to do that this week.”
She said an advisory group - including parents, teachers, students, managerial bodies and education officials - is meeting regularly to consider the options available if the usual exams can't go ahead.
She said: "There are a number of disparate and varied voices in terms of options to pursue.
“Many students wish for the traditional Leaving Cert, many wish to cancel it outright, many wish for a hybrid of calculated grades and traditional.
“We are looking at all options."
She did not commit to a timeline for a decision on whether the exams can go ahead, noting that the situation in June may be very different to where we are now.
The minister also noted that junior cert teaching and learning is also continuing remotely, with students “studying and following their course work".
