NCOC decides to reopen primary schools from today

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Tuesday unanimously decided to reopen primary schools from today (Wednesday).

Addressing the media in Islamabad, the Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood said the decision has been taken after consultations among all federating units including Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B).

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He underscored that 171,436 coronavirus tests were carried out in educational institutions since they reopened on September 15, of which only 1,248 tests were positive. He further added that only one per cent of the infection rate has been witnessed in educational institutions.

"Keeping in view this data, it has been decided to resume primary level classes," Shafqat Mehmood told reporters.

Moreover, the education minister warned that action will be taken against educational institutions that are violating standard operating procedures (SOPs).

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The federal and the Sindh governments were at odds with each other last week over the second phase of the reopening of the educational institutions as more coronavirus cases at schools and colleges emerged.

Earlier, the federal education minister stressed that the government had started random testing of students for coronavirus after the resumption of educational activities in schools and universities across the country on September 15.