National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) has decided to close all the educational institutions from November 26 (Thursday) in view of a surge in coronavirus cases.
Its meeting held in Islamabad on Monday with Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar in the chair. Provincial education ministers also attended the meeting.
The National Coordination Committee will give final approval of the NCOC’s decisions. Prime Minister Imran Khan will head the meeting.
Later briefing the media about the decisions taken at the NCOC meeting, Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood said the students of schools, colleges, universities, and other learning institutions will not come to schools till the 24th of next month. During this period, there will be online home learning for the students.
The minister said the winter vacation will commence from December 25 and continue till January 10 next year.
Mahmood said a review meeting will be held in the first week of January to decide the future course of action. He, however, was confident that the educational activities will resume from January 11, 2021.
Meanwhile, all examinations scheduled for the month of December have been postponed. Board exams will now be held in May and June next year.
Mahmood said the vocational education involving practical work will continue. He said the tests for recruitments will also be held as per the schedule. Those pursuing PhDs, as well as the research scholars, can visit their institutes and labs.
The minister said there will be one third occupation in the hostels.
Shafqat Mahmood is a ‘confirm jannati’
As soon as the decision to close all educational institutions, including schools, colleges, and tuition centers, was made, the ‘confirm jannati’ trend is viral on Twitter. Well, needless to say, the trend is for our Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood.
On a serious note, Special Assistant on National Health Services Faisal Sultan said the virus positivity ratio over the last 24 hours has remained over 7%.
Meanwhile, PM Imran has also urged the nation to strictly follow COVID-19 SOPs as Pakistan’s second wave of infections gathers momentum.
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