Schools unlikely to reopen in January: Ghani

KARACHI: Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani has said it is unlikely that schools would be allowed to resume classes from next month as earlier decided.

“Keeping in view the ongoing second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, it is unlikely that education institutes would be reopened in January 2021,” said Ghani while addressing a press conference in Karachi on Wednesday.

However, the provincial minister asserted that students would not be promoted without sitting for examinations this time.

The statement comes as the province’s coronavirus tally surged 206,489 out of which 32,139 infections were recorded in just 22 days.

Sindh has also recorded COVID-19 deaths at an alarming rate since the start of December as 444 people succumbed to the contagion.

Pakistan’s highest coronavirus prevalence has been observed in Karachi and Hyderabad with positivity rates crossing 15% on multiple occasions.

Last month, the federal government, on recommendations by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), had announced that educational institutes will remain closed from November 26 to January 10.

The students will study at home or get weekly homework till December 24 and winter vacations will start December 25. All examinations have been postponed except admission and recruitment tests.

The schools were scheduled to reopen on January 11.

Although education is a provincial subject under the 18th Amendment, the provinces adopted Centre’s policy owing to a Supreme Court decision directing for a uniformed policy to tackle the coronavirus pandemic in the country.