AS the Covid-19 situation is improving in the country with reduction in both mortality rate and infections, the government has almost decided to reopen the educational institutions from the 15th of this month. Briefing the media on Friday, Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood said though the final decision will be taken on Monday at the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers’ conference but there is a proposal to initially open the higher education institutions from 15 September and if the Covid-19 indicators remain normal, educational activities for middle and primary levels will also be resumed.
Stage-wise reopening of the educational institutions is a step in the right direction as it will help the relevant authorities better gauge the situation arising out of the reopening of the institutions and take the decisions accordingly. If the situation deteriorates, the institutions can be closed again as no compromise can be made whatsoever on the health of our children. There is no doubt that Pakistan was already struggling to bring enormous number of out-of-school children to the schools and the breakout of the pandemic has only further aggravated the situation. The pandemic has seriously affected education of our children over the last five months or so. This was the reason that students of class nine and above were promoted without any examination. To keep the students engaged, initiatives like tele-school program and Taleem Ghar as well as online classes by educational institutions were launched with good intentions but practically these failed to help resume continuity of learning due to numerous technical bottlenecks at the level of transmission and the receiving end. Indeed the institutions cannot be kept closed for an indefinite period and the government has made a very cautious decision about their reopening at a time when the Covid-19 is on the decline in Pakistan. Nonetheless as the threat is not over, both the federal and provincial governments must ensure foolproof preventive measures for the safety and health of the students. Before their reopening, the institutions either public or private should be fully decontaminated by carrying out the sprays. Heavy responsibility also lies with the administration of educational institutions to fully comply with the SOPs and ensure the teachers and students use masks and sanitizers.
