Educational institutions across Sindh will remain open: Saeed Ghani

KARACHI:

Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani on Wednesday said all educational institutions will remain open as the third wave of Covid-19 is "under control" in the province.

“At present, the situation of coronavirus in Sindh is under control but if SOPs are not implemented, problems may arise,” Ghani said and added that with regards to the previous NCOC meeting, it was agreed that no student would be promoted to any grade without examinations this year.

The provincial education minister expressed these views while addressing the media after the NCOC meeting earlier today.

“The number of patients is increasing in Punjab and K-P and in view of this situation; educational institutions in some districts of the country have been closed till April 11.”

However, he said the situation of Covid-19 was under control in Sindh and the number of patients in the province was less when compared to Punjab and K-P.

"Given the situation, we have decided that all educational institutions across Sindh will remain open as usual, but only 50 per cent of children will be attending classes," he said.

Ghani added that all private and public educational institutions would be bound to fully implement SOPs and if any case of Covid-19 was found in any educational institution, the school or college would be closed.

“If any educational institution violates SOPs, not only will it be closed but also action will be taken against those responsible,” he said.

Regarding the schedule of examinations in the province, the Sindh education minister said all examinations would be held as per schedule according to the decision of the steering committee of the education department.

Earlier, Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood announced that the educational institutions will remain closed in nine districts of Punjab and in Islamabad until April 11 amid a surge in Covid-19 cases.

Education ministers from all provinces attended the meeting, wherein the health department officials briefed the participants on the current situation.

"There is a rapid surge in the cases in some districts of Punjab, particularly Lahore, while the situation is the same in some areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Jammu & Kashmir," Mahmood added.

Mahmood further said that the situation in Sindh, Balochistan, and Gilgit Baltistan is relatively better.