The federal government has announced the phase-wise reopening of educational institutions across Pakistan from January 18 however the organizations of private schools are dissatisfied with the decision.
The decision was taken in Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference convened by Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood.
According to the schedule, the classes from 9th grade to 12th grade would restart from January 18.
The second phase would include the resumption of educational activities from the primary level to 8th grade from January 25.
The universities or higher educational institutions across the country would open their doors from February 1.
However, Shafqat Mehmood said that a review meeting would be held on January 14 to monitor the coronavirus situation.
All Pakistan Private Schools Federation (APPSF) President Kashif Mirza told News360 and rejected the government’s decision regarding reopening of schools from Jan 18 across Pakistan.
He iterated that global organizations including the United Nations (UN), World Bank, etc had highlighted that the damage done by the coronavirus on education.
Mirza said that they had already faced huge losses due to the closure of schools amid the pandemic situation and could no longer sustain it.
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The official asserted that over 7,000 teachers have given up the profession while more than 10,000 schools across the country have been shut down after a financial crunch.
“If the situation continued, around 25,000 schools would be shut down”, the APPSF president said.
Kashif Mirza said that around 87% of parents were willing for the schools to reopen of educational institutions.
He criticized that the coronavirus spread rapidly during the second wave due to the rallies of the political parties.
He demanded the government to review its decision and reopen educational institutions on the same date.