KARACHI: All public and private educational institutions from secondary and above have reopened in Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday.
The schools, colleges and universities have been asked to strictly implement the Standard Operating Procedures against COVID-19 to prevent the spread of the virus.
A day earlier, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani announced that schools and educational institutions, for classes IX and above, will reopen from Monday.
“Sindh Corona Task Force has decided to reopen educational institutions of Sindh for class 9th and above from 7th June (tomorrow) with strict SOPs. All staff must be get vaccinated,” he tweeted.
The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) had earlier issued instructions to keep all educational institutions in the province closed till June 7.
Earlier the minister had said schools in Sindh will remain closed till further orders aren’t issued from the provincial government.
He said the steering committee will hold a meeting within the next few days to decide on the matter. The minister had said the steering committee will also finalise the examination schedule.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said on Sunday that schools will reopen once all teachers are vaccinated. During a visit to Expo Centre on Sunday, where another hall has been made into a vaccination centre, the chief minister that lockdown and coronavirus SOPs will be significantly relaxed after everyone is vaccinated.
He said that people have demanded that businesses should reopen fully but traders and customers need to vaccinate and also keep proof with them.
The Punjab government had already announced a staggered reopening public and private schools from June 7. According to a notification from the school education department, several conditions will be “implemented strictly”:
It said that only 50 percent of students shall attend classes on a given day, and no student shall attend the school for two consecutive days. All concerned authorities shall ensure observance and compliance of COVID-19 SOPs in letter and spirit.
The decision were taken in line with the recommendations of the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) held last week. Punjab education minister Murad Raas said that the government teams will be monitoring the situation very closely.
