‘Schools cannot be opened at this time’

Sindh govt launches education app for students from kindergarten to Class 5

KARACHI: Schools cannot be opened in Sindh under the current circumstances, said Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani, pointing out that even if the government opened them, parents may not send their children during the pandemic.

Ghani was addressing a press conference on Tuesday to launch the Sindh Education and Literacy mobile application, in collaboration with several NGOs. The app is a learning tool for students from kindergarten to Class 5 and available in English, Urdu, and Sindhi.

Acknowledging that there was no substitute to schools, he said that the closure of educational institutions in the midst of pandemic has been a severe blow to the educational activities, but as per the expert advice, it was not possible to reopen them at the moment.

The minister further recognised that internet distribution was a problem for several students, adding that the authorities were attempting to work on this in collaborations with cellular service providers and cable operators. "We will try to include as many students as we can," he promised.

Responding to a question, the provincial minister said that the authorities were aware of the private school owners' concerns and urged parents to pay their children's school fees on time. "If not today, then tomorrow the situation will be favourable and these educational institutes will reopen."

Speaking about the education sector's allocation in the forthcoming budget, he said that there would be difficulties in the budget this year, adding that the development budget may also be reduced due to the financial crunch.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2020.