Murad Raas Issues Statement Regarding Closure of Schools

The Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas has issued a statement regarding the closure of schools across the country. Due to the increase in the number of Omicron cases, it is expected that the educational institutes will be closed once again. The Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference was scheduled to be held on 13th January to decide about the closure of the schools but due to uncertain circumstances, it got postponed. Now IPEMC meeting will be held in the next week to make the final decision. 

Statement of Murad Raas

The Education Minister has said that all the people asking about the closure of the schools are informed that “according to my opinion every other activity especially social activity has to be at a standstill before the closure of the schools in the country". Murad Raas further added that the educational institutes including schools, colleges, and universities should be last in the line to close as the students have already faced unimaginable loss during the past year since the spread of the pandemic. So it is not possible to shut down the schools once again as it will affect the students and the academic year will also be delayed. 

Decision About Closure of Schools

According to the National Command and Operations Centre's (NCOC) data, the positivity ratio of COVID-19 has reached up to 7%. The government has urged all the people to make sure the implementation of SOPs issued to minimize the spread of the pandemic. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry had also earlier dismissed the news regarding the closure of the schools due to the increase in the number of coronavirus cases. He said that the lockdown will not be imposed and the schools will also remain open without any disruption in the academic activities.