Punjab govt plans to prioritise Covid-19 vaccination for teachers

Islamabad: Punjab’s Minister for Education Murad Raas on Monday said that provincial government has plan to prioritise teachers and other educational staff for Covid-19 vaccination drive to protect them from the virus and ultimately keep schools open.

Talking to a news channel, he said Punjab government was considering the proposal that all eligible teachers would be vaccinated against Covid-19 under ongoing vaccination programme.

The authorities have directed the management of education institutions to ensure strict implementation of SOPs, including social distancing and wearing face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, he added.

He said during the covid-19 pandemic almost one lack and 27 thousand teachers were trained online, adding, over one lack education programs were downloaded throughout the Punjab.

He said Physical classes for grades nine to 12 are set to resume in over a dozen cities of Punjab, including Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad from today, adding, if infection rate would control further the rest of classes would be resumed gradually after Eid.

Since classrooms of 1 through 8 will be empty, students can be spread over the whole school to follow SOPs, he added. He further made it clear that federal and provincial governments have decided that students will not be passed without exams this year like they were last year, adding, no any flexibility in students’ exams.

He said with reopening of schools if any student gets infected to Covid-19 he/she should submit their coronavirus positive report to school management, adding, their exams would be conducted later but not canceled.

Murad Raas highlighted that the Punjab government has taken major strides to facilitate quality education for students during this Covid difficult time. He said TV channel Taleem Ghar was launched with the sole purpose of allowing students to learn at home.

In a similar vein, a mobile application of the same name has also been launched. I request the parents to send their kids to schools. The corona SOPs will be followed more strictly than before and we are making the bestarrangements for the safety of the children, he added. He also asked parents to ensure that the children wear face masks as students without masks won’t be allowed to enter the school.