Shafqat Mahmood Says Not Sure About The Schools Reopening on 11th January

The federal education minister, Shafqat Mahmood has announced that it is not clear yet that whether the schools will be reopened on 11th January or remain closed for an extended time period. He said that the decision will be taken by keeping in view the situation of the COVID-19. Recently the new strain of the coronavirus has raised concerns so the government will consider the advice of the health ministry in this regard. The minister added that in the ongoing situation it is not possible to allow the resumption of the academic activities and we cannot risk the health of the children. So it is not sure that the schools will resume classes according to the previously announced schedule.

Due to the two prolonged closures of the educational institutes across the country the education section suffered a loss. Moreover, the annual board exams of the matric and the intermediate could not be conducted. The provincial governments had announced the promotion policy and promoted all the students to the next grade. Shafqat Mahmood said that to tackle the education crisis we have launched the radio school and the television school and the online classes are being conducted in the universities so that all the students take their lessons regularly. He also addressed the issue of the single national curriculum and clarified that the SNC will be implemented in 2021 in all public and private schools. The government took this step to ensure quality in education. 

The private school's council has clearly stated to reopen the schools from11th January. They have opposed the decision of the government and also demanded the economic relief package. The members said that the government should not charge the registration fee for the year 2020 from the private schools. On the recommendations of the national command and operation center, it was announced to close the educational institutes from 16th November 2020 to 10th January 2021. The review session of the education ministers will be held on 4th January to make the future strategy. The Supreme Court has also directed to opt the uniform policy deal with the educational issues caused by the coronavirus.