Education minister warns of hasty decision to shut down schools

ISLAMABAD: Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood on Saturday warned from taking any hasty decision to shut down schools as it would affect education.

In a statement on Twitter, the federal minister said that the health of students is the government’s top priority.

He said the decision to reopen schools was with “great care” on the advice of the Health Ministry. He said the six-month closure had deeply affected students and any decision to close will destroy education. 

Health of students is our first priority and any decision we make will be guided by the advice of Health Ministry. Having said that 6 months closure deeply affected the students. Decision to open was taken with great care. Any hasty decision to close will destroy education

— Shafqat Mahmood (@Shafqat_Mahmood) September 19, 2020

The federal government is at odds with the Sindh government over the reopening of educational institutes due to resurgence in the number of coronavirus cases across the country.

The Sindh government deferred its decision to reopen schools for secondary classes next week. On Saturday, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani announced that the government was delaying the resumption of Classes 6 to 8 in schools across the province.

Many educational institutes have been flouting the implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) against the coronavirus pandemic, forcing the provincial government to reconsider the decision.

Classes six to eight were supposed to resume sessions from 21st Septemeber, a week after the resumption of classes for higher education including colleges and universities on 15th September.

In a statement the previous day, Shafqat Mahmood had denied any change in plan over the phased reopening of the schools across the country. He said a meeting would be held on 22nd September before the resumption of other classes in the second phase.

“Our timetable is not yet changed,” said Shafqat Mahmood adding that they had decided unanimously over the resumption of academic activities in educational institutes in early September.