PM AJK announces to reopen educational institutes   

MUZAFFARABAD: Prime Minister Azad Jammu and Kashmir Raja Farooq Haider has announced to reopen educational institutes after the federally-administered territory reported no case of coronavirus on Friday, ARY NEWS reported.

He said that the schools would be opened while following the precautionary measures. “Although reopening of schools is necessary but adopting precautionary measures should also be amongst the priority in the current situation,” he said.

He said that in the first phase, universities and colleges would resume the academic session, followed by reopening of the degree colleges and high schools.

Raja Farooq Haider said that the spread of coronavirus was contained timely in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and they have not reported a single case in the past 24 hours.

He said that overall 65 people have died out of 2306 people affected from coronavirus in the AJK.

Earlier in the day, Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood on Friday said that the government plans to reopen educational institutes in a phase-wise manner, setting the priority of opening it from higher secondary classes to middle and primary gradually.

Addressing a presser, Shafqat Mahmood said that the final decision on reopening educational institutes would be made by September 07. “Students have suffered a lot due to the closure and we have received suggestions regarding reopening,” he said as the country is witnessing a declining trend of coronavirus.

Shafqat Mahmood also denied a tweet attributed to him regarding the closure of schools till October and said that the decision to reopen schools on September 15 would be made in the week-before meeting of all stakeholders.