Educational instituitions will reopen in phases from Jan 18

By: Robin Umar

Islamabad: The Inter-Provincial Ministers Conference on Monday decided to reopen the country's educational institutions in phases from Jan 18.

Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood has decided that in the first phases classes from 9^th to 12^th will reopen on Jan 18, the primary and secondary classes on Jan 25 and the final phase of Higher Education Institutions will reopen on February 1. Even Education Ministers of the opposition PML (N) and PPP were on the same page for the reopening of Educational institutions. At this time, the meeting did not make final decisions regarding the holding of classes on alternate days. Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas told the meeting that if the government did not want to reopen educational institutions, parks, wedding halls and supermarkets should also be closed. The meeting decided that board exams from classes 9^th to 12^th will be held in May-June instead of March. It means the new session will start in August across the country. Exams from grades 1 to 8 in schools will be in May. The Provincial Minister said teachers and administrative staff would be allowed to attend schools from January 11 and online learning could also resume on the same day.