KARACHI: Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani has said that 100 percent student attendance in schools across the province will not be allowed until the COVID-19 pandemic is eliminated.
While addressing a press conference, Ghani said that schools in the province will only be allowed to call 50 percent of students at a time in line with the standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Ghani further said that implementation of SOPs will not be possible with 100pc of the students in attendance and maintaining social distancing will become hard.
The number of infections had decreased over the past few weeks, however, stressed that the virus has not been completely eradicated, he informed.
Ghani was referring to an announcement by Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood saying that the restrictions imposed on schools in some major cities to conduct three-day classes in a week were removed.
Earlier, the federal education minister had announced that such restrictions in these cities had been lifted and they were now allowed to hold regular classes.
“Important announcement. All schools will go back to regular 5-day classes from Monday, March 1. Restrictions imposed in some major cities on schools to conduct staggered classes was only till Feb 28,” the minister tweeted.
The Sindh education minister also outlined the provincial government’s plans of recruitment and transfers in the education sector, adding that teachers who fulfill the government’s criteria will be hired on merit after they appear for a test on a union council level and an interview.
He said the provincial government is also working on making the transfer policy more transparent, adding that three categories have been made in this regard.
Transfers have begun across the province in 7,000 schools that have been closed for the past several years due to teacher recruitment restrictions, however, the remaining transfers will take place in August after the new academic year, Ghani said.
