ISLAMABAD: As admissions in colleges have started, severe violations of the Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) were observed in the educational institutions on Monday.

Parents and students stood in long queues to get the challan forms and roll number slips but there was no one to tell them that they have to maintain a distance of six feet. In some institutions, people were standing in the shape of mobs.

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar the other day had said the opening of educational institutions would be the biggest challenge for the government and expressed the fear that it could trigger a spike of the Covid-19 cases again.

On Monday, in some colleges it was the last date for submission of the admission applications in the intermediate part one (first year). A huge rush was seen even in those colleges which had one or two more days to accept the applications.

Parents, students gather outside colleges to get admission forms without wearing face masks, maintaining distance

Malik Rizwan, who was standing in a queue at the F-7/2 College, told Dawn that it was unfortunate that no one bothered to ensure implementation of the Covid-19 SOPs.

“A number of parents and students depositing the challan forms to get the roll number slips were not wearing masks. In a number of institutions, banks and cellular companies, people are not allowed to enter without wearing masks but there is no one to stop those without wearing face masks from entering colleges,” he said.

He said students were standing in the shape of mobs and a number of them were even face to face.

Tariq Bashir, who was in the same college to submit documents of a student, said the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) should take notice of the situation to avoid chances of the spread of the virus.

“The only positive thing is that the college management has sprayed or disinfected the area once. Even majority of the staff is not wearing masks but masks were hanging in their necks or were placed on their chins. We are lucky that the virus has not spread in Pakistan with the same pace in which it is spreading in India. We need to take steps to eradicate the virus,” he said.

Shahid Nazir, a local resident, said the district administration should ensure that all institutions followed the SOPs.

Meanwhile, the National Command and Operation Centre on Monday issued an advisory for the parents asking them to ensure that every student wears a mask while going to school.

“Don’t send children to school in case of symptoms of disease. Get them tested if children have severe symptoms of Covid-19. Inform the school in case of confirmation of the virus,” the advisory stated.

FDE spokesperson Saqib Shahab told Dawn that though people do not follow the SOPs even in markers the directorate had decided to get the SOPs implemented in letter and sprite.

“So far, regular classes in colleges have not started so there can be some violations but we have formulated a strategy to implement the SOPs from the opening of schools. Even we will check why parents and students are not following the SOPs during the admission process,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2020