Observer Report Lahore
Punjab Minister for Education Murad Raas on Monday announced that the school year in the province will begin on 1 August, 2021 and will end on 31 March, 2022.
Taking to Twitter, the minister also posted an official notification issued in this regard, according to which the decision was taken during a meeting of the Inter Provincial Education Ministers Conference on February 26, 2021.
A few days ago, Murad Raas had released a list of districts which will follow the alternate-school-day rule until April 1 due to higher coronavirus incidences therein.
Districts not in the list “will follow prior Covid-19 schedule,” the minister had written on Twitter.
The attached notification stated that districts having a higher Covid-19 positivity ratio, such as more than 20 cases in the last 24 hours, will be subject to the rule.
The districts with high positivity rates reportedly include Lahore, Gujrat, Multan, Rahim Yar Khan, Sialkot, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad.
According to the existing rule: “Students of all the educational institutions shall attend classes on alternate days with 50% ratio on any single working day as detailed in earlier letter […] dated 12th September, 2020.”
The above was amended to state: “Students of all the educational institutions are allowed to attend classes 5/6 days a week (as the case may be) w.e.f. 01-03-2021 except in the districts mentioned above.”
According to the notification, the amendment will be reviewed on March 31.
