Coronavirus 2nd Wave: Federal Govt Announces School Closure Until Jan 10, 2021

By Our Web Desk

ISLAMABAD–  Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood announced on Monday that all schools across the country would remain closed until January 10, 2021, in the wake of the rising coronavirus cases in the country.

Nov 26 — All students to start studying from home

Dec 24 — Last day of online classes

Dec 25 to Jan 10, 2021 — Winter holidays

Jan 11 — Schools to resume activities after reevaluation of the situation in the first week of January

“All ministers have mutually decided that to keep all educational institutions, including schools, colleges, universities, and tuition centres closed. However, online classes will continue from November 26 to December 24 after which winter break will start. Schools will reopen on January 11, 2021,” Minister Shafqat Mahmood said.

The decision has been made during the ongoing Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) convened to discuss school closures.

Minister Shafqat Mahmood said that children’s health and safety is the top-most priority of the government, adding that examinations scheduled to take place in December will be postponed, with the exception of a few professional exams.

During the meeting, Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas said that if schools should be closed, then parks, shopping malls, and other recreational places should also be closed.

“As far as closing schools is concerned, all the ministers have mutually agreed but micro-decisions regarding examinations and other matters will be taken by the respective provinces,” he said.

Stances of Centre and provinces:

NCOC

As coronavirus cases spiked across the country, the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) recommended early and extended vacations.

Speaking to Geo.tv on November 19, Federal Minister for Planning and Development and NCOC chief Asad Umar said the national body suggested cutting short summer break next year to compensate for the early and extended winter vacations this year.

Punjab

Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas does not want schools in the province to shut down.

If the government gives students winter vacations this year, we will have to reduce summer vacations to little or none, Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas told a news channel on Friday.

“I’m not in favour of giving winter vacations. Schools have just reopened after six months,” he said, adding that if educational institutions do close down, online classes will resume. Students will be taught online and given homework.

He had a request for parents too. “Khuda ka wasta (for God’s sake), if you are not sending children to schools, don’t take them to northern areas or shopping malls instead,” he said.

“Schools are following COVID-19 SOPs the most and everyone wants them closed [as soon as virus surges]. I will ask the NCOC to ban children from entering all recreational spots.”

Sindh

Sindh, too, was of an opinion that schools should not be closed down.

In a meeting of the steering committee on Saturday, the provincial government said that students have already suffered huge losses due to the coronavirus lockdown and can not afford any more vacations.

The committee suggested that SOPs at educational institutions will be strictly implemented and schools that want to resume classes online can do so.

Balochistan

Winter vacations for educational institutions in Balochistan should commence from December 1, the province’s Education Minister Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind recommended.

He said that he recommended that examinations at schools and colleges should end by December 1. Rind suggested that the winter holidays should last for three months. “We are considering extending the vacations by 15 days this year.”

The province has postponed its annual examinations from classes one to eight as well.

The Balochistan Secondary Education Department announced that the exams that were supposed to be held in the last week of November will now be taken after March 10, 2021.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra has said that cases in the province are rising rapidly. The decision to open or close schools will be in accordance with the decisions taken in the NCOC meeting.

For now, our aim to control cases in the provinces as soon as possible, he said.

Education Ministry proposes a shutdown

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Education proposed to shut down educational institutions from November 24 to January 31.

Primary schools will be closed from November 24, middle schools from December 2 and higher secondary schools be closed from December 15, the ministry proposed in its letter to the provinces.

However, the education ministry officials want teachers to come to educational institutes.

The ministry proposed calling teachers to schools and colleges to prepare for online classes. Online education systems, such as Teleschool and Teleradio, can be implemented, it recommended.

The recommendations will also be presented in today’s meeting. Schools in the country were reopened in September after a lockdown of six months.