ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood on Friday refuted the "false news" that schools across the country will remain closed till October, clarifying that the decision on reopening of educational institutes will be finalised after a meeting of the education ministers.
"Some fake accounts in my name are spreading false news that schools will remain closed till October. Not true," Mahmood clarified on Twitter.
The minister also said that the final decision on the reopening of schools will be taken in a meeting of the provincial education ministers on September 7. He added that the 'likelihood' of opening educational institutes from September 15 in a phased manner.
Govt mulls testing strategy for schools after reopening
On Wednesday, it was reported that the government was mulling to introduce a new testing strategy for educational institutions to contain the spread of coronavirus after their expected reopening on September 15.
The proposal was floated in the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar as the body reviewed the reopening of schools following a decline in COVID-19 cases across Pakistan.
Speaking on the occasion, Umar had said the sequence designed to reopen educational institutions had been agreed by the Ministry of Education. However, the next major challenge was to enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) and health guidelines in around 300,000 educational institutions across the country.
The forum was apprised that a four-strand strategy was devised for testing in educational institutions.
The participants were briefed thatthe strategy had been formed keeping in view the 20 major high-risk cities with 76% of the total COVID-19 cases reported in the country.
It added that the students under this strategy would be randomly screened whereas screening of the teachers would be carried out on a periodic basis.
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