Schools, universities to reopen from Sept.15 in Pak: Minister
Government will formulate SOPS that must be followed, says Shafqat; Imran warns nation that if we are careless on Eid Al Adha, the virus could spread again and there could be a fresh spike in infections
Pakistan has decided to reopen educational institutions from Sept.15 with observance of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPS) against COVID-19.
Minister for Federal Education and Professional Trainingshafqatmahmoodmadetheannouncement in a press conference in Islamabad on Thursday.
He said the federal government will formulate SOPS and share them with the provincial governments. He said the provincial governments will be authorised to close the institutions, which do not observe SOPS.
The minister said the government will review the situation about the spread of coronavirus and implementation of the SOPS in August.
Shafqat said the educational institutions can open their administrative offices and call teachers before reopening of the institutions and practice the SOPS.
He said universities can permit their PHD students to do research at the laboratories with limited number. He said universities can also allow their students to reside at the hostels with maximum 30 per cent occupancy from August.
The minister said institutions can conduct examinations spanning maximum four days with SOPS from the second week of July. He said the government will monitor implementation of the SOPS.
On Wednesday, the federal and provincial governments have agreed on the reopening of schools, colleges and universities in the first week of September ater five months closure.
The development comes as the federal and provincial ministers met in Islamabad on Wednesday via video link to discuss proposals on the reopening of educational institutions. Representatives of the Gilgit-baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir education departments also atended the meeting, which held with federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood in the chair.
The participants agreed that schools, colleges and universities should be allowed to resume operations across the country under strict enforcement of SOPS to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Sindh education minister Saeed Ghani said schools had suffered financial losses due to the coronavirus-induced closures. He suggested that private schools be given interest-free loans. The federal minister said he would discuss the mater with Prime Minister Imran Khan.
In a separate development, Imran Khan on Thursday appealed to the nation to mark the upcoming Eid Al Adha with simplicity and take precautionary measures so that the number of COVID-19 cases does not rise again.
He was speaking to reporters ater inaugurating the Isolation Hospital and Infectious Treatment Centre (IHITC) in Islamabad.
“The virus spreads rapidly when a large number of people gather,” said the premier, saying “carelessness” on Eid Al Fitr in May led to a spike in cases in Pakistan. “This led to pressure on our hospitals, our frontline workers also faced immense pressure, we unfortunately lost lives and the virus peaked.
“Ater Eid Al Fitr, we took steps to contain the virus, including imposing smart lockdowns and today, infections are decreasing. By the grace of the Almighty, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the cooperation of the provinces in implementing instructions — due to the joint efforts of everyone, Pakistan is now among those countries where infections are declining,” Imran said.
He said that it made a special appeal to people that if they were careless on Eid Al Adha, the virus could spread again and there could be a fresh spike in the number of infections. Hospitals will come under pressure again, therefore, people should mark the forthcoming Eid with simplicity.
The prime minister said the government has come up with SOPS for Eid Al Adha and how to carry out animal sacrifices. “I appeal to the entire nation to observe Eid with simplicity — for the sake of your country, its economy and especially the elderly and at-risk members of the society. If we take care now, then we can manage, God willing, to come out of this pandemic beter than other countries.”
Earlier, National Disaster Management Authority ( NDMA) Chairman Lt-gen Mohammad Afzal briefed the prime minister on the isolation centre.
The 250-bed, state-of-the-art medical facility has been constructed in a record forty days at a cost of about Rs980 million.