‘Educational institutions to reopen with vaccinated staff’

Islamabad: Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood on Wednesday announced that the educational institutions across the country, except Sindh will be reopened in staggered manners and with vaccinated staff.

Addressing a press conference after chairing Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) Meeting at National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Shafqat Mahmood directed to vaccinate the teachers and students aged above 18 of higher educational institutions.

The conference was also attended by the Parliamentary Secretary for Federal Education Wajiha Akram, Director General Federal Directorate of Education Dr Ikram Ali Malik and Provincial Education and Health Ministers via video link.

All the decisions were taken unanimously in consultation with the provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Shafqat said the educational institutions of province Sindh will continue to be closed till August 08, adding, the decision regarding their reopening will be taken by the province after reviewing the disease situation.

He said, as the educational institutions at intermediate and university level will also be opened, therefore the vaccination of teachers and students was mandatory. He said the vaccination percentage of teachers at Intermediate level was observed at 83 per cent, while it is lower at university level which needs to be increased.

The Provincial Education Minister requested special efforts for the vaccination of students, teachers and other staffers in universities in their respective provinces, he mentioned. He informed that the deadline for vaccination of transportation staff (drivers, etc) of the educational institutions was August 31, 2021. They must get vaccinated before the deadline.

Talking about the examinations, the Federal Education Minister said that these would continue as per schedule across the country whileSindh province will issue a new timetable of exams after reviewing the pandemic situation.

He said that as per the decision of the Provincial Education Minister at IPEMC, it was agreed that the exams of only elective subjects from class 9th to 12th will be taken and the marks taken by students in these subjects will also be given proportionally in compulsory subjects.

All students from class 9th to 12th will be given additional five per cent marks in compulsory subjects as most students take more marks in these subjects according to a research he added.

He vowed to vaccinate entire staffers of each and every educational department attached with the Ministry of Federal Education. At the end of the press conference, Shafqat Mahmood gave a special message to the students, saying that they should not believe in fake news being circulated on social media.

He urged them to only pay attention to the decisions which were being announced officially by the Ministry of Federal Education. He also urged them to pay attention to their health and education rather than focus on rumours. The next IPEMC Meeting will be held on August 25 to review the pandemic situation across the country, the Minister said.