School Education Department Issues Notification Regarding the Closure of Public and Private Schools

The school education department has issued a notification regarding the closure of public and private schools. The Punjab education minister, Murad Raas has also shared the notification on his official Twitter account to inform the students about the decision taken by the government due to the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic. According to the notification, the public and the private schools in the various districts of Punjab such as Lahore, Bahawalpur, Bukhar, Dera Ghazi Khan, Jhang, Khanewal, Multan, Rahim Yar Khan, Rawalpindi Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Sheikhupura, Okara and Toba Tek Singh will remain closed. 

Statement of Murad Raas

The education minister notified the students that in the districts with over 5% coronavirus positivity rate the schools will be closed from 26th April 2021. The classes of matric and intermediate will be suspended until the new order by the government. Earlier according to the decision of the national command and operation Centre the classes of 9th to 12th grades had been resumed from 19th April 2021 in a staggered manner on Mondays and Thursdays with 50% attendance but due to the upsurge in the number of coronavirus cases the schools have been closed again. 

Matric and Intermediate Annual Exams

According to the exam schedule announced by the board authorities, the annual SSC and HSSC exams will be held from 25th May 2021 and 3rd July 2021 respectively. Moreover, the federal minister for education and professional training has also informed the students the exams will be conducted according to the issued schedule and there is no chance of delay in the exams. The students have been demanding to postpone the exams amid COVID-19 but all the provincial education ministers agreed to conduct the exams with the strict implementation of SOPs in all the examination centers. It is pertinent to mention here that the Cambridge exams have also been started in Pakistan as per the schedule provided to the students by the Cambridge assessment international education.