Pakistan decides to reopen schools from Sep 15

ISLAMABAD: The educational institutions in the country would reopen from September 15, it was decided in a meeting of all the education ministers held today.

Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood chaired the meeting which finalised that the schools and universities will resume classes from next month and action will be taken against those who violate the decision.

The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had proposed to reopen the educational institutions from September 1, which was opposed by all the participants, a spokesperson of Sindh education minister said.

The government had announced in July to resume educational activities in the country from September after reviewing the coronavirus situation.

Shafqat Mahmood had then said that the decision has been taken to allow schools to call its administration staff before September 15 and announced that trainings will be conducted to ensure that SOPs are implemented.

He said that provinces will be responsible for ensuring SOPs that are followed, cautioning schools to follow the procedures laid out by the government. “It is my request to private schools, especially, that the SOPs that you will have to follow will be the ones made by the government,” he said.

Earlier today, Punjab Education Minister Dr Murad Raas had rejected reports of the government reopening schools in the province from August 15, saying that it will happen only if the coronavirus conditions are “manageable”.

“FAKE NEWS. No date has been announced for opening of Schools in Punjab. What I have said is that if the conditions of COVID 19 are manageable, only then we will try to open by August 15, 20 under very strict SOPs. I will not endanger the lives of our children or our teachers,” Raas had said in a post on Twitter.

Raas had said the School Education Department (SED) Punjab had prepared detailed SOPs so that once schools reopened, the same could be followed to protect the children.

The minister had said that if they were opened, schools would function in different shifts to ensure physical distancing among the students in classrooms.