LAHORE: The Punjab Higher Education Department (HED) and the School Education Department (SED) on Wednesday announced closure of the public and private schools, colleges and universities in the province due to Covid-19 pandemic.

The HED notification available with Dawn states, “In pursuance of the directions of National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), on campus teaching in all public universities and colleges in Punjab including degree awarding institutes and autonomous colleges, shall remain suspended from Nov 26 to Dec 24 in the wake of pandemic (Covid-19).”

The SED also issued the notification of closure of all public and private schools, academies, tuition centres and seminaries.

Punjab Minister for School Education Murad Raas tweeted the notification.

Meanwhile, All Pakistan Private School Federation president Kashif Mirza rejected the complete closure of educational institutions.

At a press conference, he appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, the Chief of Army Staff, chief ministers and governors to open the schools under the SOPs. He said schools should not be closed completely and micro level lockdown option should be followed.

He said the world human rights organisations also suggested to open the educational institutes to avoid educational and financial losses of students and people connected with education sector.

Four days ago, an online conference of the provincial and federal education ministers headed by Shafqat Mahmood discussed the wave of Covid-19 and its impact on educational institutions and decided closure of educational institutions from Nov 26 to Jan 10, postponing the exams scheduled during the period.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2020