ISLAMABAD: Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood has announced that the educational institutions across the country will reopen from September 15, in phases, as the coronavirus infections continue to decline.
“All universities, Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) institutes, and colleges will be reopened from September 15,” said Mahmood while addressing a press conference in Islamabad along with PM’s Special Assistant Dr Faisal Sultan.
“The federal government has allowed for classes of grades IX, X, and XI to be conducted from September 15 as well,” he noted, adding that NCOC had worked hard and consulted with the think tanks and kept reviewing the situation in the region.
Shafqat Mahmood also thanked parents for patiently waiting, stating that the country was now able to reopen colleges and universities from September 15. “However, students of grade VI, VII and VIII will be able to attend classes from September 23,” he added.
The Education Minister said that on September 30, if the health situation remains better the primary educational institutions will be allowed to reopen. “In the next phases, decisions relating to holding examinations will be taken,” he said.
Giving details on the decision, PM’s Special Assistant Dr Faisal Sultan informed that it was important for schools to decrease the density of students in classrooms and laboratories.
“If a class has 40 students, we would like to break it up into two days or shifts. In this way, 20 students can attend classes on one day and 20 on another,” he said.
In this regard, he said that the students can be seated at a reasonable distance from each other and a social distance would be maintained. “This is only possible to do if the classes are broken up and a batch of students attends them in phases,” he concluded.
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