COVID-19: Shafqat Mahmood rejects 'fake news' about closure of educational institutions

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood on Monday refuted “fake news” circulating on media that educational institutions would be closed again across the country from October 15 due to Covid-19 pandemic, ARY News reported.

Taking to Twitter, the federal education minister said, “Fake news being circulated on social media that educational institutions will be closed on Oct 15. No truth in this”.

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Fake news being circulated on social media that educational institutions will be closed on Oct 15. No truth in this.

— Shafqat Mahmood (@Shafqat_Mahmood) October 5, 2020

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 resumed on September 23, while primary schools across the country reopened from September 30.

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Last month, briefing the media after a meeting of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Covid-19, Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood had said the decision to reopen schools was taken in consultation with all the provinces as well as Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Shafqat Mahmood had 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.