PUNJAB, KP: The authorities in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have announced the resumption of classes 9 to 12, days after the provincial governments had closed the schools in districts with a high COVID-19 positivity ratio earlier in March.
According to education minister Murad Ras, Â classes 9, 10, 11, 12 will start in public and private schools on April 19 and will take place only on Monday and Thursday in Punjab.
The minister said the classes will resume in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot, Multan, TT Singh, Sargodha, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, and DG Khan. Classes 1-8 in high-risk districts will begin studies after Eid-ul-Fitr, the minister added.
Classes will continue in all other districts across Punjab — as the government had only imposed restrictions on high-risk districts. Examinations for classes 9-12, O, and A-Level will be conducted as per schedule, the education minister added.
ANNOUNCEMENT:
Classes 9,10,11,12 to start in Public & Private Schools on April 19th on Monday & Thursday in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot, Multan, TTSingh, Sargoda, Bahawalpur, RYK, DG Khan. Remaining Districts to follow regular Schedule— Murad Raas (@MuradRaasMR) April 16, 2021
Likewise, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Shahram Khan Tarakai said the provincial coronavirus task force had decided classes 9-12 would resume from April 19.
“It is planned to stagger classes of grade 9, 10, 11, 12 under the strict compliance of SOPs while the rest of the classes will be started from 27 April 2021,” he added.
According to a notification from the KP education department, “All public and private educational institutions including cadet colleges, model schools, madaris, academies and tuition centers in the Districts of Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda, Mardan, Swabi, Kohat, Swat, and others districts  shall commence classes for grade-9 to grade-12 from 19 April.”
Meanwhile, the remaining classes, i.e., from grade-1 to grade-8, shall remain closed till April 27, the notification said. The districts where educational institutions have not been closed because of the COVID-19 situation shall continue to hold all classes as per standing instructions, it added.
It is decided today in the provincial task force covid-19 meeting that schools will be commenced from Monday 19 April 2021. It is planned to stagger classes of grade 9,10,11,12 under the strict compliance of SOPs while the rest of the classes will be started from 27 April 2021. pic.twitter.com/qLDis7NaQz
— Shahram Khan Tarakai (@ShahramKTarakai) April 16, 2021
Pakistan on Friday witnessed another day with over 5,000 coronavirus cases and more than a hundred deaths amid the worsening condition during the third wave of the pandemic.
According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan reported 5,364 coronavirus cases in the past day as the total number of cases surged to 745,182. There were another 118 deaths from the virus, taking the death toll to 15,982.
The total number of active cases has surged to 78,425 while the positivity rate stood at 8.31 percent. There are 4302 patients who remain in critical condition in hospitals across the country.
There were 64,481 coronavirus detection tests conducted in the past day, taking the total number of COVID-19 tests to 11 million since the first case was reported. Overall 650,755 people have recovered from the virus including 4,123 in the past day.
Punjab continues to remain the worst affected area with 42,037 active cases. There have been 261,173 cases and 7,271 deaths in the province so far. Islamabad has recorded 68,665 cases and 626 deaths while there are 12,817 active cases in the federal capital.
The number of coronavirus cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has reached 103,419 cases and 2,796 deaths while there are 13,303 active cases in the province. Sindh has recorded 270,963 cases and 4,541 deaths while Balochistan has recorded 20,662 cases and 222 deaths.
