Decision on closure of schools, winter vacations in Pakistan deferred

ISLAMABAD: The decision regarding closure of schools, extended winter vacations in Pakistan has been deferred until next week on 23 November 2020 when another meeting of all education ministers will be convened to review the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation.

Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood convened a meeting today (Monday) of all provincial education ministers to discuss the current coronavirus situation at schools and decide appropriate measures to control the spread of the deadly disease among students and teachers.

The meeting was also attended by officials from health ministries and the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) where they discussed the impact of the coronavirus on education institutions but no final decision was taken regarding closure of schools or early and extended winter vacations in Pakistan.

Furthermore, the Punjab education minister Murad Raas also took to Twitter saying that the decision regarding closure of schools has been put back by a week.

“No decision made on closure of Schools in Punjab today. Next meeting will be on Monday 23rd November, 2020 for further review of the COVID 19 situation.” said the education minister.

It is pertinent to mention that several education institutes across the country have been closed after students and teachers tested positive for coronavirus while Pakistan continues to report over 2,000 cases everyday for the fourth consecutive day.

There were 2,128 new coronavirus cases reported on November 15, 2020 bringing the number of active cases to 28,048 while 19 people lost their battle with the deadly disease in the last 24 hours.

Read more: Smart lockdown better than closing all schools in Punjab: Murad Raas.

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