Schools will remain open amid surge in virus cases

islamabad — A government committee comprising provincial education ministers on Thursday ruled out closure of educational institutions amid rising coronavirus cases across the country.

A decision to this effect was taken during an inter-provincial education ministers’ conference, presided over by Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood, and attended by provincial education ministers via video link.

National Health Services director-general Dr Safi Malik gave a detailed presentation to the meeting on existing Covid-19 situation in the country. Similarly, all provinces shared their data of positivity rate of Covid cases in schools and colleges.

The meeting noted that there was no reason to close educational institutions in the country as the Covid-19 situation was under control.

The meeting decided that targeted action would be taken in case coronavirus positive cases emerged from an institution.

As for winter vacations, the forum opposed a long break and recommended that either no winter vacations should be observed or they should be limited to a few days so that students may cover their course.

The meeting noted that the regular academic year before Covid-19 consisted of 32 weeks which has now been condensed to 11 weeks, so there was no rationale for having long vacations.

Federal Minister Shafqat Mahmood sought proposals from all the federating units in next 15 days about a uniform academic calendar across the country.

The minister said students suffered a lot during the 6-month closure of schools due to Covid-19 and asked provinces to submit proposals about moving academic year from April to August.

He also advised provinces to ensure strict compliance of Covid protocols in educational institutions.

Congregation given go ahead

The government has allowed the Tableeghi Jamaat to hold its three-day gathering in Lahore starting from Friday despite an uptick in the number of new coronavirus cases. “The government has allowed the Tableeghi Jamaat to hold annual religious congregation in Raiwind with the participation of 54,000 followers,” said a handout issued by the government on Thursday.

It added that the three-day congregation will start on Friday and attendees have started to arrive from across the country. However, no one from outside the country is allowed to participate in the religious gathering, the statement read. The government said the Covid-19 rules will be strictly followed in the congregation. Children and high-risk adults will not be allowed. —