Punjab to resume physical classes for grades 9-12 from Monday

Classes will take place only on Mondays and Thursdays, says provincial education minister Murad Raas

LAHORE:

Physical classes for grades nine to 12 are set to resume in over a dozen cities of Punjab, including Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad from April 19 (Monday).

Taking to Twitter, Education Minister Murad Raas announced that in-person classes for grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 will start at all public and private schools in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot, Multan, Toba Tek Singh, Sargodha, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, and Dera Ghazi Khan on April 19.

Entire Classes of 9,10,11,12 to be called on only Monday and Thursday. Since Classrooms of 1 through 8 will be empty, students can be spread over the whole school to follow SOPS. https://t.co/DzLWwdDREo

— Murad Raas (@DrMuradPTI) April 17, 2021

All educational institutions in these districts were closed due to high positivity rate of Covid-19 cases.

The minister further said classes will take place only on Mondays and Thursdays. “Entire Classes of 9, 10, 11, 12 to be called on only Monday and Thursday. Since Classrooms of 1 through 8 will be empty, students can be spread over the whole school to follow SOPs,” he tweeted.

On April 6, a conference of education and health ministers had unanimously decided that in districts affected by the coronavirus, classes one to 8th will remain closed till April 28, whereas classes 9th to 12th will resume from April 19.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Examination Commission (PEC) has decided on Saturday to conduct primary and middle examinations in two phases in Punjab.

Read more: Schools to remain open on Saturdays, declares FDE

In the first phase, papers will be conducted from April 26 to 30 while the second phase will be conducted from May 3 to 6 in 13 districts, including Lahore.

Earlier, the Punjab Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (PBCC) Chairman released a revised schedule for matriculation and intermediate examinations in the province wherein matriculation exams will be held from May 25 while Inter papers will start from July 3.

Matriculation results will be released on September 21 and Intermediate results will be released on October 20.

The PBC Chairman on Saturday said both examinations will be conducted and completed within 28 days.

The notification issued by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore reads, “The controlling authority/Higher Education Department, Punjab in a meeting with all the chairpersons of BISEs Punjab dated 09-04-20121 has approved revised schedule for Conduct of Examination/Declaration of Results of SSC and HSSC Annual Examinations 2021.”

“9th and 10th examinations will start from May 25 (Tuesday) and the expected date of declaration of result is September 21 (Tuesday),” as per the notification.

While HSSC examinations of 11th and 12th examination will start from July 3, 2021 and the expected results date is 20 October, 2021.

Punjab Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (PBCC) and BISE Secretary Awais Saleem Humayun issued a notification on April 10.