Middle Level Schools Resume Classes Today

Under the government's decision of reopening of educational institutions in Phase-II, thousands of Middle level schools (class six to eighth) across Pakistan has resumed classes on Tuesday, ending a six-month long closure due to the pandemic COVID-19

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Sep, 2020 ) :Under the government's decision of reopening of educational institutions in Phase-II, thousands of middle level schools (class six to eighth) across Pakistan has resumed classes on Tuesday, ending a six-month long closure due to the pandemic COVID-19.

According to an announcement of Education Ministry, all secondary education institutions in the country have been reopened from September 23 (Tuesday), whereas students of Primary level will join their schools on September 30 after strictly monitoring the pandemic situation for next one week.

On March 13th, Pakistan closed all education institutions across the country in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood on September 07, while announcing the reopening of some 300,000 schools, colleges, and universities, said all the education institutions would be reopened in three phases to avoid another wave of the virus.

"If the pandemic situation remain controlled, then the students in nursery to grade five will also be attended the classes on September 30," Mahmood said.

Over 30,000 religious seminaries across the country were also being reopened in phases.Similarly, the vocational and technical institutions had also started functioning from September 15.

According to the SOPs issued by the government, masks will be mandatory for all teachers and students, while schools, colleges, and university administrations will ensure availability of sensitizers at the entry gates.

Pakistan is among a handful of countries to have witnessed a dramatic drop in the number of daily coronavirus cases, from nearly 7,000 to around 400 over the past few months, with fatalities from the novel virus hovering in single digits each day.

The World Health Organization (WHO) had also praised Pakistan and some other countries who managed the coronavirus crisis well and said world can learn from these countries.

"Pakistan deployed the infrastructure built up over many years for polio to combat COVID-19. Community health workers who have been trained to go door-to-door vaccinating children for polio have been utilized for surveillance, contact tracing and care," Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO head had said during a briefing.

Pakistan has so far recorded 307,418 cases, of which 293,916 have been recovered, according to the Health Ministry data.

The number of fatalities from COVID-19 stands at 6,432.

The government is currently following a "mini smart lockdown" strategy. According to this plan, authorities seal off only houses or workplaces where infections are reported, instead of closing the entire area, street or shopping center.