Sindh govt seals private school, issues notice to absent faculty

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah directed relevant authorities on Wednesday to take stringent actions against schools not following pandemic-related standard operating procedures (SOPs).

He issued the directive while presiding over a meeting called to review the coronavirus situation in the province.

Addressing the meeting, the CM instructed education department officials to ensure the implementation of SOPs in all educational institutes so that children could be protected against pandemic.

"And institutes, public and private, violating the SOPs must be brought to book," he said.

Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani told the CM that he had visited many schools in the provinces after September 15, which marked the commencement of the first phase of reopening of schools, and found that most of them failed to follow the SOPs.

"Therefore, I decided to defer the commencement of in-class sessions for grade-six to grade-eight students until September 28," he explained.

The minister assured that the time during which the on-campus classes for grades lower than nine would remain suspended, the education department would work on devising a mechanism for ensuring the effective implementation of the SOPs.

Expressing displeasure over schools violating the SOPs, the CM directed Ghani issues instructions for all educational institutes to abide by government orders in the larger interest of children.

"And take strict action against those those who fail to implement the SOPs," he said.

Pandemic update

The CM told the meeting that two more coronavirus-related deaths were reported in the province on the day, lifting the death toll to 2,471, and 408 more Covid-19 cases had emerged, following which the cumulative infection tally rose to 134,845.

Besides, he added, 154 more patients have recovered overnight and the number of total recovered patients in Sindh has reached 128,964.

This leave 3,410 patients under treatment, among whom 3,210 are in home isolation, five in quarantine centres and 285 in different hospitals.

School sealed

Separately, Ghani sealed a private school on the day for not complying with the standard operating procedures (SOPs), as defined by the Sindh government in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. He also issued show cause notices to the principal and faculty of a public school who were absent while SOPs were being ignored.

Ghani paid a surprise visit to more than a dozen private and public schools and colleges in the East district, including Gulistan-e-Johar and Gulshan-e-Iqbal block 7, to inspect the implementation of the SOPs and teaching standards.

While visiting a private school, the provincial minister expressed indignation at education activities continuing without the use of face masks and other SOPs. He directed the Directorate of Inspection and Registration of Private Institutions Sindh Director-General, Dr Mansoob Siddiqui, to take action against the school immediately.

Notices issues

The minister also visited Government Degree Science and Commerce College for Boys and Girls, where he saw that there were no measures in place to control the spread of coronavirus on the main gates, while SOPs were also being ignored in classes. Moreover, the principal of the public educational institute was also absent. Ghani asked the relevant officials to issue a show-cause notice to the principal and the faculty members who were absent on the day.

He directed the college secretary to visit colleges and inspect the hygiene situation and make the required arrangements there.

Meanwhile, the provincial minister appreciated the government and private educational institutes that were complying with the guidelines issued by the authorities to curb the spread of the contagious disease.

"We will take necessary action against those who play with the health of [our] children," he said. "We are well aware of the obstacles in the way of children's education and the challenges faced by the private educational institutions, but we cannot compromise on our children's health at any cost."

He asserted that they were not against the reopening of educational institutions, but they wanted to be sure about the complete compliance of SOPs

"Some private schools are calling primary class students against the orders of the Sindh government and the education department, which is a serious violation and we will not shy away from taking strict action against such schools," he maintained.