ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) on Friday announced that winter vacations for educational institutions would commence from January 3, 2022, except in areas affected by extreme weather conditions.
The date was finalised Friday during a meeting NCOC head and Planning Minister Asad Umar wherein Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan and others were in attendance.
During today’s NCOC session, it is decided that Winter vacation in education sector will start from 3rd January 22 apart from Fog / Smog hit districts of Pakistan. Federating units will issue notifications accordingly.
— NCOC (@OfficialNcoc) December 17, 2021
The meeting decided that the areas affected by extreme weather conditions or fog are exempted from the decision. According to the NCOC, provincial entities will notify the winter break schedule accordingly.
The NCOC said the decision to start holidays on Jan 3 had been taken to maximise vaccine uptake amongst students in educational institutions, which could be best achieved when schools were open.
It expressed caution that millions of students remained unvaccinated, while data suggested that children might be susceptible to Covid infection. “Parents are urged to get their children vaccinated at the earliest to protect them and those around them,” it added.
The NCOC said it was prudent to schedule winter vacations in Pakistan in January to coincide with a potential uptick of cases.” This will allow for minimal disruption of educational calendars if there is a surge in cases,” the NCOC said.
It further urged all citizens to get vaccinated, including those who had not yet gotten their second dose. Complete vaccination offers the highest protection against the disease, the forum said.
The Sindh government has already announced winter holidays in all educational institutions from Dec 20 to Jan 3. Earlier, the education minister had suggested that winter vacations should commence from December 20. The education minister’s suggestion came during a meeting with Umar.
“There is a risk of coronavirus outbreak in three weeks. There is a high risk of Omicron outbreaks. The new variant is not as dangerous, but precautions are very important amid its [rapid] spread,” NCOC chief had said.
