Schools open for administrative work

Classes for grade nine to 12 to resume from Jan 18

RAWALPINDI:

All government and private schools in the Rawalpindi district reopened for administrative work on Monday after remaining closed for almost two months due to the second wave of the novel coronavirus.

The first ones to enter the closed centres of learning were the cleaning staff. Armed with brooms and dusters, they cleared the cobwebs and cleaned the dust which had gathered during the extended winter break.

Classes will, however, start as per schedule from January 18, officials of the District Education Office said.

On the first day of reopening of the schools, the overall attendance of teachers and non-teaching staff, including Grade-IV employees remained very low while strict instructions have been issued to all the employees to ensure 100% attendance from Tuesday.

Moreover, the cleanliness work has been started in all the government and private schools which will continue the whole week to ensure a clean environment for students. The classes are slated to officially start on January 18.

The recently held Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) jointly held with the Health Ministry and the National Command Operations Centre (NCOC) had decided phased reopening of schools in the province as well as the schedule of examinations in 2021.

As per schedule, on January 11, schools across Punjab will reopen only for teachers and staff members to prepare academic work and implement Covid-19 SOPs.

On January 18, schools will resume classes for grade nine to 12 only. From January 25 onwards classes for nursery and grade one to eight will start.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2021.