ISLAMABAD: Starting Monday, primary schools and universities will reopen for students across Pakistan after being closed for nearly two months during the second wave of the coronavirus disease.
Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood told reporters on Saturday that the country had experienced “too much loss of education” during the pandemic, with initial World Bank estimates saying that at least 1 million children were expected to drop out of school due to COVID-19’s socio-economic impact on Pakistan.
As part of its anti-coronavirus measures, the government had ordered the closure of all schools and colleges on Nov. 26 last year, with online learning operational until Dec. 24 before the winter break until Jan. 11.
Students from grades 9 to 12 returned to school on Jan. 18. However, those in grades 1 to 8 and university students will resume classes from tomorrow.
During the first phase of the schools’ closure, the government provided free learning material for students from grades 1-12 through the TeleSchool initiative, before launching the country’s first “radio school” to expand its student outreach in December last year.
Earlier this week, Education Minister Mahmood shared the findings of a survey with the Senate, which showed that nearly 7 to 8 million children had benefited from the TeleSchool initiative.
He added that the government had taken several measures to ensure students’ learning remained unaffected during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the Senate also passed a resolution calling on the government to devise comprehensive distance learning strategies for the students by collaborating with all provinces.
