Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood has announced the reopening of education institutes, including Madaris, public and private schools, colleges and universities, across the country from September 15.
All education institutes will open their administrative and academic offices from July 15 onwards to begin preparations for safe reopening and ensure the implementation of SOPs.
Education facilities will reopen based on clear and detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for safe education facility reopening. Three important criteria are essential for the conduct of exams: masks, physical distancing of 6 feet, and open and airy spaces for the conduct of exams.
Universities will allow students that are in far-fetch areas to attend on-campus classes before September 15, 2020. But the universities must ensure 30% hotel occupancy. These students will be called after Eidul Azha under strict SOPs.
The education minister further said that “universities had been permitted to allow their PhD level students or those who wanted to do their research work in laboratories, to physically attend before the 15th of September”.
This attempt is being made to fix the academic loss of students from remote areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. “A health check will be mandatory for such students and faculty members who will attend universities before September 15”, he remarked.
The vocational and technical training institutions will allow students who were getting on the job training to continue their training in industries, while the students who were getting training in classrooms can only attend their training from the 15th of September.
Vocational institutions have also been permitted to call their teaching staff before the 15th of September for training regarding SOPs, the minister said.
The decisions have been made in consultation with the Health Department and National Command & Control Centre (NCOC).
