KARACHI: Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani has said that the government cannot take the risk of reopening educational institutions at this time.

He was speaking to a visiting delegation of the Catholic Board of Education, Karachi, in his office on Friday.

Led by Father Saleh Diego, vice chairman of the board, the delegation included Anthony D’Silva, Shameem Khurshid, Afzal Jacob, Lenny Dias and Rita Charles. Member Sindh Assembly Naveed Anthony was also present.

Father Diego said no one wanted to see more people getting infected with the virus and therefore it was necessary to maintain social distancing.

He also informed that the schools run by the Catholic Board of Education, Karachi, were following all the government directives. “But due to the closure, the institutions run by the board are also facing financial crisis. Therefore, we can do with financial assistance from the Sindh government or the federal government along with the regular fees by the parents of the students studying in these educational institutions,” he said.

“We understand that there is a risk of the virus spreading to children by opening the educational institutions at the moment, but if such standard operating procedures are set up, we can open the schools twice a day, in two shifts in order to accommodate all students while also observing social distancing. Because the parents only pay the fee when their child attends school,” he added.

In response, the education minister said that he was well aware of the fact that private educational institutions were facing a severe financial crisis due to the non-payment of fees. “And that is why we have repeatedly appealed to parents to take care of their children’s compulsory submission of fees,” he said.

No SOPs in vans

“But we cannot take the risk of reopening educational institutions at this time. Even if the school administration implements SOPs, the children come to school in school vans. There is no implementation of SOPs there,” he pointed out.

He also explained that the Sindh government was not in a position to provide interest-free loans and financial assistance to private educational institutions though the federal government could do so.

Saeed Ghani further said that children from classes one to eight had been promoted to the next level while students from classes nine to 12 have to be promoted.

However, amendments are to be made in law in this regard, which is also being done, he said.

He added that to discuss the finer points of all these issues, including details of the next academic year, a meeting of the steering committee of the education department will be convened and an announcement will be made in consultation with it soon.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2020