No winter vacations this year for schools in Sindh: Minister

KARACHI: The Sindh government announced that there will be no winter vacations this year for educational institutions reopening from 15th September across the province.

Sindh Education and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani said that educational institutions will also continue teaching on Saturdays and there will be no winter vacations this year.

He explained that the academic year would last till 15th April, 2021 and that the syllabus of all classes has been reduced, while the next academic year will begin on 3rd May 2021. He said summer vacations next year will only be reduced to a single month in July.

The minister said that parents who were not satisfied with safety arrangements and precautions for their children would be given the option of online education.

The education minister said around 2,262 schools had been registered and training given to 20,997 teachers under a programme initiated by the education department to conduct online classes.

Ghani cautioned private schools from receiving additional charges from students due to the COVID-19 pandemic, adding only a 5 percent fee hike has been permitted as per the directives of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

He said that monitoring committees had been constituted at the district level in Sindh involving deputy commissioners to ensure that schools observe the standard operating procedures against the spread of the coronavirus.

He remarked that the reopening of educational institutions was a tough decision for the government compared to its earlier ones regarding reopening of trade and economy,