All schools in Islamabad, 7 Punjab cities shut down after spike in corona cases
The National Command and Control Centre (NCOC) in a high-level meeting on Wednesday decided to close down all schools in Islamabad and seven districts of Punjab as a spike in coronavirus cases is being reported from these areas, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
The federal government said the closure of educational institutions of all grades in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and in Punjab districts was due to the rising trend in COVID-19 cases from past 10 days.
The seven Punjab cities are: Lahore, Sialkot, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujrat, Rawalpindi and Gujranwala amid rise in coronavirus cases, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
According to the NCOC meeting which was held in Islamabad, the schools will remain closed from March 15 to March 28.
Punjab Education Minister Dr Murad Raas said, “Spring break in all public and private schools of Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Rawalpindi, Multan and Sialkot will be from March 15th, 2021 to March 28th, 2021. All public and private schools in the rest of the districts will follow a regular schedule.”
ANNOUNCEMENT:
— Murad Raas (@MuradRaasMR) March 10, 2021
Spring Break in all Public & Private Schools of Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Rawalpindi, Multan, Sialkot will be from March 15th, 2021 to March 28th, 2021. All Public & Private schools in rest of the Districts will follow regular schedule.
A high-level meeting was held to review the situation in the educational institutions in view of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases. The meeting was chaired by Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood and attended by provincial education ministers, health ministers, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan education and health ministers and senior officials and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Faisal Sultan.
Shafqat Mehmood while addressing a press conference said the situation is under control in Sindh and Balochistan and it has been decided to follow the 50 percent student attendance in schools on alternative days. “There are challenges in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir,” he added.
Dr Faisal Sultan said all federating units are agreed on the 50 percent work policy.
Numerous decisions were taken and announced in the press conference after holding a detailed consultation with the provinces and other concerned departments at National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
Shafqat Mahmood said that they noticed the huge impact of the education sector on the epidemic as around 50 million children were at risk due to attending their classes physically.
He said that it is good news that the situation in Sindh and Balochistan was favourable and the classes with 50 percent strength would continue in these provinces. Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) witnessed increase in pandemic trend, therefore 50 percent students will also attend classes physically in these areas.
He said the major cities of Punjab including Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Lahore, Gujrat, Multan, Sialkot and Rawalpindi along with the Islamabad Capital Territory witnessed rising trend in corona cases due to which the schools in these cities will go on spring break for two weeks from Monday 15-28 March. However, the other districts in the province would observe classes with 50 percent strength under Covid SOPs including wearing of masks, washing of hands and social distancing.
He said that it is expected that the decision of physical classes with 50 percent students will also be applied in Muzaffarabad, and Peshawar as well.
The minister clarified that send-ups in schools will continue and the restriction imposed today, doesn’t apply to continued exams at all level. “We have agreed that the metric and intermediate level exams will be taken in June this year and further decision in that regard will be made later,” he added.
He said today’s decisions were applicable on all schools, colleges and universities as it had been made after Higher Education Commission and provinces feedback.
Education Minister said that provinces are closely monitoring the situation and repeated analysis of schools will continue for two weeks.
He urged the educational institutions to inform the concerned department promptly if witnessed any kind of unfavorable situation due to pandemic in their institution.
The provincial governments’ could close their educational institutions in case of the rising trend in pandemic cases, he mentioned.
Junaid Riaz reported this news.