After some of the students' "negative reaction" to the reopening of educational institutions in the country, Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood on Monday expressed his astonishment and advised students to be serious about their studies.
The government announced earlier today that all educational institutions will be reopened in a phased manner from this month.
Taking to Twitter, the education minister said on Monday: "It surprises me when I see the negative reaction of some students to school/college/Universities reopening."
"Education is a gateway to the future. Also, Education years are also the best time of ones life," Shafqat Mehmood said.
The education minister asserted that everyone should welcome the opportunity to study and be among friends.
Earlier in the day, Mehmood announced that schools and educational institutions will reopen across the country in three phases.
"On January 18, classes for grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 — those that have exams — will resume," he had said during a news conference along with SAPM on Health Dr Faisal Sultan. "This means that students of grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 will go to their schools and colleges from January 18 and their studies will resume."
The minister had said that in the second phase, students of primary classes till grade 8 will return to schools from January 25.
Mehmood had said that universities and other higher education institutions will reopen from February 1 in the third and last phase.
Reopening schedule: