LAHORE: The Punjab government on Saturday issued instructions regarding reopening of schools in the province under the first phase of the plan announced by the federal government.

Earlier, the federal government had announced a phase-wise plan to reopen educational institutes in the country from Jan 18, which were closed on Nov 26, 2020, to contain spread of the coronavirus.

The Punjab School Education Department (SED) informed the schools about the decisions taken in the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC).

It said that rules had been formulated in line with the federal education ministry’s notification issued on Jan 5.

According to the notification, students from all educational institutions will attend classes on alternative days. The student ratio must remain at 50 per cent of the total strength in schools.

The board examinations of SSC/HSSC will be held in the month of May and June 2021.

The department stated that the the public schools of the province would continue to follow the Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP) issued earlier.

The assessment criteria and examinations schedule for the 5th and 8th grades shall be communicated separately to the schools by the Punjab Examination Commission.

It further directed all schools to “ensure strict implementation of Covid-19 SOPs, that have been communicated over time by the primary and secondary healthcare and school education departments.

“School timings shall be observed as per the previous practice in the winter season,” added the notification.

Under the first phase of the plan, 9-12 grades classes will restart from Jan 18 (Monday).The NCOC would re-evaluate the Covid data in a week and would also decide whether the primary schools and higher education institutes should be opened on Feb 1 or not, as the infection rate differed in various cities of the province.

It is possible that educational institutes may not reopen in the cities where infection rate is high. Meanwhile, Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas assured the parents of strict compliance of SOPs in schools and urged them to send their children to their respective institutes.

In a video message, Mr Raas says: “We are reopening schools from January 18 and in the first phase, students of high school will resume classes. In the second phase, the students of primary and elementary schools will resume in-person learning, while universities will start classes from Feb 1.”While addressing the parents, he said the government remained vigilant throughout the period when the educational institutions were opened previously.

“I request the parents to send their kids to schools. The corona SOPs will be followed more strictly than before and we are making the best arrangements for the safety of the children,” he added.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2021