Ghani asked to allow resumption of educational activities on Aug 9

A representative body of the province’s educational institutions in the private sector has demanded that Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani allow the resumption of educational activities soon after the current lockdown ends.

All Sindh Private Schools & Colleges Association Chairman Haider Ali said in his statement that the new academic year that was to start on August 2 should begin on August 9, adding that a new semester should also be started at universities across the province on August 9.

Ali said the future of university students is in jeopardy due to the loss of two consecutive years. An unimaginable academic loss cannot be tolerated by the private education sector for the third year in a row.

Citing official statistics, he said that 70 to 80 per cent staff members have been vaccinated, but the future of over 15 million students of Sindh is still at risk due to repeated closures of educational institutions.

Therefore, physical classes and on-campus activities should be resumed at public and private educational institutions subject to compliance with the Covid standard operating procedures and 50 per cent attendance, he added.

Ali said the schedule for practical examinations of the ninth and 10th classes should be issued so that the remaining intermediate exams and practicals could be completed on time.

He pointed out that students have to wait for their results to get admission in universities, so the closure of educational institutions and the suspension of annual exams will delay the announcement of results further. He pointed out that the number of out-of-school children (OOSC) in Sindh has increased from four million to six million. The reason behind the increase in the number of OOSC is the closure of schools due to Covid-19, he explained.

He claimed that 30 percent of children have dropped out of school, while some low-fee private schools have closed for good because their owners could not bear the unexpected financial crisis, so there is an urgent need to work on bringing OOSC back to schools.

Ali said they faced serious financial losses but the government provided no assistance to the administrators of those schools. The federal and provincial governments should immediately announce a simple and workable loan scheme for private educational institutions, he added.