Winter break in schools from Jan 3

Islamabad : The National Command and Operation Centre, the nerve centre for the country’s anti-coronavirus measures, on Friday decided that winter vacation in educational institutions would begin on January 3, 2022, but the areas hit by extreme weather conditions will be an exception.

The provincial governments will issue notifications for the purpose accordingly.

The decision was announced during a meeting chaired by NCOC head and planning minister Asad Umar and attended by federal education minister Shafqat Mehmood, special assistant to the prime minister on national health services Dr Faisal Sultan and others.

According to Asad Umar, millions of students in the country are not vaccinated against COVID-19 and that data suggests that children may be susceptible to coronavirus infections. Also, global trends regarding the spread of the new Omicron variant of the virus suggest that an upsurge of cases typically happens within a few weeks of the detection of the variant.

The minister urged parents to ensure their children get anti-coronavirus vaccine jabs.

He said the winter break decision was meant to maximise vaccination of students in educational institutions, which could be best achieved when they're open.

“In light of this information, it will be prudent to schedule winter vacations in Pakistan in January to coincide with the potential uptick of cases. This will allow for minimal disruption of educational calendars if there is a surge in cases,” the NCOC said.

It added that all citizens should get themselves vaccinated, including those who had not yet gotten their second dose.

"Complete vaccination offers the highest protection against the disease."

Earlier, the education minister had suggested that winter vacation should commence from December 25.

The suggestion was made during a meeting with planning minister Umar.

“There is a risk of coronavirus outbreak in three weeks. There is a high risk of Omicron outbreaks”.