KARACHI:
On December 29, while fighting the deadly second wave of the coronavirus, Pakistan confirmed its first case of the new variant of the lethal microbe. Reports have revealed that the new variant could be up to 70% more transmissible than the old one. Despite this, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood has recently announced the re-opening of educational institutions in phases. He has always asserted that the health of students is his first priority — which he proved by closing educational institutions in the first place despite much backlash. However, the minister cannot ignore the fact that the decision of re-opening schools in these critical days is extremely dangerous due to the rapidly increasing cases. He needs to strictly re-evaluate his decision and come up with a solution, which is already long overdue. It is always better to be safe than to be sorry.
Dilshad Baluch Sajidi
Awaran
Published in The Express Tribune, January 12th, 2021.
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