The federal government has announced that educational institutions in
certain districts of the country will remain closed until April 11 in view of
the growing spread of the corona virus.

After which the provincial education ministers for Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
have named the districts where schools will remain closed.

 

Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood:

In a news briefing after the meeting at the National Command and
Operations Center (NCOC) in Islamabad, Federal Minister Shafqat Mahmood said
that the meeting was attended by provincial education ministers as well as
heads of higher secondary education commissions and educational institutions.
And the disease situation was discussed in detail.

 

He said that it was pointed out in the meeting that the spread of the
disease in some districts of Punjab especially in Lahore was a matter of grave
concern.

 

He said that there are many problems in some areas of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa while the situation is similar in some districts of Azad Kashmir
but the disease situation is better in Sindh, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan.

 

He said that earlier in the NCOC, it was decided to close all types of
educational institutions, including schools, from March 15 to March 28 in
certain districts.

 

However, after reviewing all these issues in today’s meeting, it was
decided that the educational institutions would be closed till April 11 and
other areas besides these specific districts could also be included in it.

 

Continuing, he said that the decision on which districts and cities to
close educational institutions would be taken by the provincial governments,
Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.

 

District of Punjab

He said that first educational institutions of 9 districts of Punjab
were closed and then another district was also added.

 

District Of Peshawar

Similarly, we had closed only educational institutions in Peshawar, but
if 8 more districts were added there, then which district should be included
and which should not be decided based on the severity of the disease.

 

How long will the school are
closed?

Shafqat Mahmood said that during the closure till April 11, if the
school administration wants to call the schools, they are allowed to do so.

Shafqat Mahmood said we will continue to review the situation, and we
are fully aware that school closures are detrimental to children’s education but
health is our number one priority and we can’t risk it.

 

Exams for grades 9-12 will be
on schedule

Talking about the examinations, the Education Minister said that there
was a lively discussion in this regard as a result of which it was unanimously
agreed that the examinations of the Board of Education for Classes IX to XII
would be held in May, June as per their schedule.

He clarified that the examinations would be held as the students of
these classes were promoted last year but the baseline is not possible now.

 

Can exams be extended?

At the same time, he said that Cambridge would hold a meeting on the
education system to review whether their examinations could be extended or not,
so I do not want to say anything at this time.

Shafqat Mahmood said that if the situation improved after April 11, the
provincial governments would be able to continue the education process by
inviting different parties on different days.

 

If some academies are open

He said that there was a complaint that some academies remained open
but it would be completely banned and if anyone opened an educational
institution in violation of the law, it would be sealed.

He also said that the Education and Health Ministers will meet again in
the NCOC on April 7 to review the situation and if there is any progress before
that, I will keep you informed.

 

Announcement of closure of
educational institutions in 9 districts of Punjab

Following the announcement by the Federal Minister of Education to
close educational institutions in certain districts till April 11, Punjab
Education Minister Murad Rass announced the names of these districts.

In a message on micro-blogging website Twitter, he said that all
private and government educational institutions in Lahore, Rawalpindi,
Gujranwala, Gujarat, Multan, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Sargodha and Sheikhupura
would remain closed till April 11.

 

At the same time, he clarified that the educational institutions of
other districts besides this one would be opened as per the old norms.

 

Announcement of closure of
educational institutions in 10 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

On the other hand, according to the decision of the NCOC, Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa Education Minister Shahram Khan Tarkai also announced the names of
the districts where schools will be closed.

He said in a Twitter message that all educational institutions in Peshawar,
Mardan, Charsadda, Swabi, Kohat, Malakand, Swat, Lower Dir, Nowshera and Buner
would remain closed till April 11 due to increase in Corona cases.

It may be recalled that more than 3,000 cases have been reported in the
country in the last seven days in which the most affected province is Punjab
followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

 

Lockdown Punjab

A two-week lockdown was also imposed in several cities in Punjab to
curb the spread of the virus.

 

Earlier, the NCOC had imposed further restrictions which would remain
in force till April 11. The NCOC at its meeting had decided to impose lockdown
in 10 cities of the country where the rate of positive cases is more than 8%. Yes
and no movement is allowed there except in emergencies.

 

These cities include Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad,
Bahawalpur, Hyderabad, Peshawar, Swat and Muzaffarabad.