KARACHI: Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani has said that the final decision on reopening schools lies with the health officials’ permission and no private body was authorized to reopen schools in the province.
The minister further warned that schools may not reopen on the tentative September 15 date if health officials are not satisfied with the COVID-19 situation.
Saeed Ghani informed that the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) had decided that schools should not reopen as of now.
He added that the Sindh government as yet does not have a set date for the reopening of institutions for teaching and the decision for it will be taken after reviewing the situation and formulating an education policy in the steering committee.
The remarks came amidst a continuing controversy over reopening of schools, with private schools associations issuing defiant statements suggesting that they may attempt to reopen schools from 15 August.
On Tuesday, Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood had said that the educational institutions in the country would reopen from September 15.
Shafqat Mahmood chaired the meeting which decided that the schools and universities will resume classes from next month and action will be taken against those who violate the decision.
He said that the decision had been taken to allow schools to call its administration staff before September 15 and announced that training will be conducted to ensure that SOPs are implemented.
Earlier, the private school associations had announced the reopening of schools on August 15, with a policy to maintain SOPs to prevent the COVID-19 spread.
In separate press conferences, the Private Schools Action Committee (PSAC) and the All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association (APPSMA) maintained that a further closure of the educational institutions would push the teachers and other staffers towards serious crisis.
They said a committee had prepared 31 SOPs that would be maintained to reopen the schools. The associations also asked the government to issue a notification for the reopening of the educational institutions from August 15.
ADVERTISEMENT
