At the inter-provincial education conference, the education ministers of the four provinces, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, agreed to a proposal to open educational institutions with strict SOPs from the first week of September.

It has been decided that before reopening of educational institutions, an inter-provincial education conference will be held on August 22.

Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood chaired the inter-provincial education ministers' conference Wednesday and the decisions were taken regarding reopening of educational institutions including school education.

At the conference, the education ministers agreed that the COVID-19 situation would be reviewed before the opening of educational institutions, with final approval from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) tomorrow (Thursday).

Educational institutions will also be allowed to conduct examinations with SOPs.

The education conference also decided to convene two more meetings before September.

Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas attended the meeting and in a statement said, “We cannot even think of reopening of schools in the current scenario as the danger posed to students and teachers due to COVID-19.”

The minister said, “It is our foremost priority to protect the lives of our teachers and students.”

On the other hand, All Pakistan Private Schools Federation (APPSF) President Kashif Mirza in a statement issued on Wednesday rejected the government’s announcement to keep the schools shut till September. He demanded the government to reopen schools and claimed that SOPs had already been prepared in this regard to protect students and teachers from novel coronavirus.

Private schools also assured full cooperation to the government for implementation of SOPS in schools.

The federation has announced a protest against the government on closure of schools for two more months.