PM Imran welcomes millions of students back to school on Sept 15

PM Imran welcomes millions of students back to school on Sept 15 Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said it is the priority of the government and the nation's collective responsibility to ensure that every child can go to school safely as educational institutes gear up to open on September 15 after a six-month-long closure due to Covid-19. Educational institutions in the country will begin reopening in phases from tomorrow, following a fall in new coronavirus case numbers, ending a long closure that led to exam cancellations and introduction of online classes by a number of institutions. Welcoming millions of children back to school, the premier assured the people that the government has worked to endure that school operations align with public health safety rules on coronavirus. “Higher education institutions and senior school classes will reopen on September 15, class six till eight will open again on September 23, and on September 30 primary classes will reopen,” Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood said earlier. The education minister had warned of punitive action against educational institutions not following precautionary measures. Early last month, Pakistan opened gyms, salons and restaurants dine-in for the first time in five months after being closed to stop the spread of coronavirus. He had clarified that the decision would be applicable to all the educational institutions of both public and private sectors, besides vocational centers and religious seminaries, “which would enable millions of students to resume studies after a hiatus of around six months”. He further said the government had to take difficult decisions during the lockdown period, which included promotion of around four million students of higher secondary education to their next classes. Expressing his gratitude to the parents of students for showing perseverance during the difficult times, he urged the teachers and school administration to fully cooperate with the government and ensure compliance of the anti-Covid SOPs at their insinuations. The minister also lauded the efforts of NCOC for making the decision possible. The NCOC is the nerve centre of Pakistan’s Covid-19 containment efforts that works under the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Covid-19.