No Saturday off or winter vacations for Pakistan schools
Pakistan’s educational institutions will remain open on Saturdays and will have no winter vacations this year, according to a notification issued by the federal education ministry.
The institutions have been instructed to hold special classes on Saturdays.
The ministry has directed authorities to review the damage caused by the closure of educational institutions because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Schools, colleges, universities, and madrassas in Pakistan are expected to reopen on September 15 but a final decision will be taken on September 7. All educational institutions across the country were closed late February after coronavirus cases spiked.
On Friday, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood and Dr Faisal Sultan, the PM’s assistant on health, issued a list of precautionary measures that all schools will have to follow when educational institutions reopen.
Schools and parents will have to adhere to the following instructions after the institutions reopen:
- First secondary classes will start first after which primary classes will begin
- The number of students in a class will be reduced, which means that half of the students will attend the session one day and the other half on the other day
- Students will have to wear face masks at all times. Dr Sultan said that it’s better if the masks are made at home
- Social distancing and washing hands should be strictly implemented
- Sanitisers should be installed in schools and students should be encouraged to use them repeatedly
- Every student attending school in-person will have to get tested for coronavirus in two weeks
- Students with lower immunity levels should not be sent to school
- Students will have lunch inside class during breaks
Mahmood stressed the importance of the role of principals and teachers in the implementation of SOPs. “The student will be the responsibility of the school,” he said.
Readmore