Ministry seeks proposals on reopening of schools.

Byline: Kashif Abbasi

ISLAMABAD -- The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training on Friday sought proposals from its attached and other concerned departments to discuss the option of opening educational institutions as the interprovincial education ministers will set to decide further closure or opening of the institutions at a meeting on July 2.

'The Ministry of Federal Education is conducting an internal exercise to firm up proposals for potential opening of educational institutions as a potential option. You [concerned departments] are to draw up plans for potential reopening of educational institutions under your jurisdiction,' read a letter issued by the education ministry on Friday.

It said the proposals should include a tentative date, detailed plans for opening i.e whether complete opening, staggered opening, alternate days etc., as well as detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) to protect the students and staff from Covid-19.

Proposals submitted by different departments will be placed before provincial ministers on July 2

The ministry asked the concerned departments to furnish the proposals by June 23.

The letter said the government had closed all educational institutions in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. As of now, educational institutions are closed till July 15.

'The interprovincial education ministers' conference is scheduled for July 2 wherein the recommendations for further closure or opening of the institutions will be formulated before presentation at the National Coordination Committee (NCC),' said the letter.

The educational institutions were closed on March 15 due to the pandemic. During the lockdown period, many schools, colleges and universities introduced online classes but the students have been complaining of out of range or poor internet connectivity in many parts of the country.

Recently, students staged protest demonstrations outside the Higher Education Commission(HEC) buildings, demanding improvement or...