Shafqat Mahmood Clarifies Rumors About Closure of Educational Institutes

The Federal Education Minister, Shafqat Mahmood has clarified that the educational institutes will remain open and no decision regarding the closure of schools, colleges, and universities has been taken by the government. It has been said that the concerned authorities will decide on the closure of the institutes if the situation of coronavirus or weather worsens. The news conference was held earlier in which the education minister had addressed the people along with Fawad Chaudhry. The minister said that the situation is different in every province and currently everything is under control so there is no need to shut down the schools as it will only disrupt the academic schedule. However, the government may consider to close the schools depending upon the situation of the pandemic. 

Statement of Education Minister

Shafqat Mahmood has said that the decision about the closure of schools had been taken in the meeting of the National Command and Operation Center and the schools in Punjab remain closed till 7th January 2022 due to winter vacations. Now the schools have been reopened with the strict implementation of SOPs. Murad Raas has also urged the school administrations and students to follow the coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs). Currently, Pakistan is facing the 5th COVID wave and the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly among the people. According to the latest updates the highest number of infections has been reported in Sindh as the positivity ratio crosses 10% in Karachi. Earlier in September 2021, the government had closed all public and private schools, colleges, and universities to minimize the spread of the pandemic.