By News Desk
KARACHI: Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani said on Sunday that 100 per cent student attendance in schools across the province will not be allowed until the coronavirus pandemic was eliminated.
“How will social distancing be observed if we allow the resumption of 100 per cent attendance in schools,” the minister questioned while speaking at a press conference. He said educational institutions in Sindh will maintain 50 per cent attendance. He said even though the federal education minister had allowed 100 per cent attendance across schools, the Sindh Education Department had its own steering committee responsible for taking provincial decisions. The decision to reopen schools was also taken by the committee, he added.
Emphasising the importance of following the coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs), the minister said children going to schools will be required to maintain social distancing in classrooms. “Once the pandemic ends, all children will be allowed to go to school,” he added.
The minister also reminded people that while Covid-19 cases had reduced in the province, the pandemic had not ended yet.
Ghani further said the government will speed up the process of recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in the education department.
Meanwhile, the country recorded 33 deaths due to coronavirus taking the nationwide tally of fatalities to 12,860 on Sunday, while 1,176 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours surging the number of cases to 579, 973, according to the latest figures issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
Among the 33 deaths, 10 patients were on ventilators. Till now 258,004 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh; 171,349 in Punjab; 72,162 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; 44,259 in Islamabad; 19,045 in Balochistan; 10,198 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir; and 4,956 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
So far, 545,277 patients, including 871 during the past 24 hours, have recovered in the country, while 1,562 patients were in critical condition.