Majority of provincial educational departments Wednesday opposed the idea of reopening educational institutions in the country from June 1.
During a meeting here, the education departments of Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh opposed the reopening of the institutions while the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government supported the move. The meeting was presided by Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood.
At an inter-provincial education ministers’ conference, officials of the three provinces maintained that the educational institutes should remain closed as the coronavirus cases may drastically increase in the coming days. Due to the disagreement between the provinces, it was decided that the matter will be tabled at the National Coordinating Committee (NCC) meeting. All provincial ministers participated in the meeting through video link.
Later, Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas rubbished the rumours about reopening of schools from June 1 in the province amid rising number of coronavirus cases in the country. He clarified in a tweet that no decision has been made, saying discussions are underway in this regard. He said lives of children and teachers are the top priority of the government. He urged the people to not follow the fake news regarding the reopening of schools.
“Let it be very CLEAR for all concerned. No decision has been made regarding opening of schools on June 1st, 2020. Discussions are underway. Lives of our Children & Honourable Teachers is priority number one. Everything else can wait. Unless you hear from me, rest is FAKE NEWS!” the minister tweeted. Sindh Minister for Education Saeed Ghani on Wednesday said that all schools in the province are obliged to pay salaries to the teachers and also not to sack them.
