ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s federal and provincial education ministers will meet on January 4 to decide on when to reopen educational institutions which closed in November to try to curb new coronavirus infections, local media reported on Saturday.
On November 26, the government announced that students, including those at higher educational institutions as well as in private schools, were expected to continue classes through distance learning until December 24 and then were to go on winter break until January 11.
“The Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) will meet on January 4 to review the pandemic situation in the country and make a decision about the reopening of educational institutions,” Pakistan’s Geo News reported.
The Express Tribune newspaper said the federal government was contemplating reopening educational institutions across the country in three phases starting January 25.
According to the agenda of the conference seen by The Express Tribune, “the decision on reopening of educational institutions will be taken on the basis of health advisory keeping in view the prevailing coronavirus situation across the country.”
In the first phase, primary schools in both the public and private sectors would be reopened from January 25, 2021, while middle and secondary schools would start classes from February 4.
“Moreover, secondary and equivalent educational institutions were proposed to be reopened in the third phase. However, a specified date was not mentioned,” the newspaper said.
Pakistan reported 2,184 new cases on Saturday, and 82 deaths from the pandemic, with 35,130 active cases, according to a government portal. There have been 484,362 total cases in the country recorded so far, and 10,258 deaths, with 2,264 critical patients.
In the port city of Karachi, the coronavirus positivity ratio was the highest in the country at 15.77 percent, followed by Peshawar at 15.54 percent and Mirpur at 9.26 percent.
The South Asian country has ruled out a wide-ranging lockdown, opting to close down non-essential public gatherings in a bid to keep the economy afloat through the pandemic.