Some private schools in the city reopened on Monday after an announcement by the Private Schools Association rejecting the government’s September 15 reopening date.
The association said schools across the city would follow anti-coronavirus measures strictly to ensure students don’t contract the virus. If schools stay closed any longer, the education year will be wasted, it argued.
All businesses but schools are open, the association said. Following this, Sindh Education Minister SaeedGhani ordered strict action against schools that had reopened. He directed officials to submit a report on the schools that had reopened and the action taken against them.
We will not allow anyone to play with the lives of our children or challenge the government’s writ, he warned, adding that schools that reopened on Monday will have their registrations cancelled.
The government reopened most businesses across the country, with the exception of wedding halls and schools, on August 10 as it ended its four-month coronavirus lockdown.
On Saturday, 25 schools in Swat were sealed for reopening without the approval of the government, Deputy Commissioner SaqibRaza Salman confirmed. The schools reopened over the announcement of the All Pakistan Private School Association. On July 20, the association announced that it would reopen private schools across the country from August 15. Syed Tariq Shah, the chairperson of the private schools association, said that the government has been unfair towards the schools. He said that the association will stage protests if the schools aren’t unsealed and allowed to reopen soon.
Private schools in Punjab, on the other hand, have said that they will not reopen schools before September 15 after the health secretary issued an alert of a second spike of the virus to the administrations of all districts across Punjab.
Federal Education Minister ShafqatMahmood, while chairing an inter-provincial meeting, said that Pakistan will reopen all educational institutes from September 15.
