Primary schools reopen today

LAHORE:In the third and last phase of reopening of educational institutions, public and private schools will reopen for primary classes (from class 1 to class 5) from Wednesday (today).

According to the instructions issued by School Education Department (SED) Punjab, all the public and private schools would divide the students into two equal groups (class wise) i.e., Group A and Group B. Each group will attend the school on selected days only i.e., the students of Group A would attend school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while Group B would attend school on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The primary schools constitute the largest proportion of public and private schools in Punjab as there are more than 36,000 primary schools in the government sector alone in the province.

Meanwhile, addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Punjab Schools Minister Dr Murad Raas said that the government had adopted zero-tolerance policy against those violating the SOPs for schools. He said no school could allow 100 per cent strength of students on a single day.

Dr Murad Raas said that since the primary schools were being reopened now the government would ensure that schools follow the SOPs more strictly. He added everyone had to play their role in ensuring safety and protection to children since it was hard that minor children follow the SOPs themselves.

coronavirus cases: As many as 145 confirmed coronavirus cases in schoolchildren have been reported from across Punjab ever since the reopening of schools on September 15.

Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department (P&SHD) Punjab issued coronavirus test report for schoolchildren according to which most cases i.e., 50, have been reported from Gujranwala, 23 from Nankana Sahib, eight from Sargodha, seven from Rawalpindi while four cases have been reported from Lahore. So far the department has conducted some 70,750 tests in public and private schools across the province. P&SHD Secretary Capt (r) Muhammad Usman said 63,339 tests were conducted in the public schools and 7,411 in private schools of the province. He said that in order to protect children and prevent the spread of coronavirus there was a need to follow Covid-19 related SOPs strictly.