Educational institutions to reopen in the country in phases, starting January 18

Educational institutions in the country will reopen in phases from January 18, the government has announced. Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood said that in the first phase, classes nine to 12 would be allowed to resume. He said that in the next phase, classes one to eight would resume on Jan 25. All higher educational institutions would resume from Feb 1, he added.

The education minister said that teachers and administrative staff would be allowed to come back to schools from Jan 11 after the winter vacations were over. Online learning can also be resumed from Jan 11, he said.

Elaborating on the decisions taken during the meeting, Mahmood said that board exams which were due to be held in March and April were postponed to May and June because “the children have not completed their coursework and we want to give them time [to prepare].”

He added that the government would review the health situation again on Jan 14 or 15 to “see if the trajectory is under control”.

Source: Dawn