Minister examines SOPs enforcement

Islamabad : Federal education minister Shafqat Mehmood on Wednesday visited the Headstart School's Montessori Campus in F-7/1 and expressed pleasure at the implementation of health and safety guidelines put out by the government for educational institutions to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus.

The minister went to classrooms, interacted with teachers and students and said he was happy to see everyone on campus practice social distancing and use face masks and hand sanitisers.

He praised the school’s administration for enforcing the COVID-19 standard operating procedures.

The minister said the government had allowed the educational institutions to resume in-person classes to help students cover the learning losses caused by the pandemic-induced campus closures.

He said the presence of a large number of students in schools on reopening showed the parents’ confidence in the government’s measures to prevent their children from the virus.

The minister said SOPs were being followed by educational institutions by and large.

“I assure parents that they don’t need to worry about the health of their children during their presence in schools for in-person learning as we’re ensuring the strict enforcement of health and safety guidelines by educational institutions,” he said.

Chief of the regulator for private schools Zia Batool, who accompanied the minister, said there would be no compromise on the children's health and action would be taken against schools not following SOPs.