Primary schools across Pakistan to reopen tomorrow: Shafqat Mahmood

ISLAMABAD: All primary schools across the country will reopen from September 30 (tomorrow) under the government-defined SOPs, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood announced on Tuesday.

Briefing the media after a meeting of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Covid-19, he said the decision to reopen primary schools was taken in consultation with all the provinces as well as Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Shafqat Mahmood said a mere 0.8 per cent of the samples taken at education institutions after they resumed on-campus classes turned out to be positive for Covid-19. “The decision regarding school reopening was made keeping in view children’s future,” he maintained.

He said many schools were sealed for violating the SOPs.

In Sindh, however, all primary and secondary schools resumed classes from Monday.

It is noteworthy that educational institutions in the country reopened in phases starting September 15, with universities, colleges and classes nine and ten resuming on-campus sessions first. Secondary classes across Pakistan except Sindh resumed on September 23 as the province delayed the resumption due to the increased number of coronavirus cases.