Punjab schools to reopen on Monday

Govt decides not to extend summer vacations

LAHORE:

Although coronavirus is speedily spreading, Punjab has decided not to extend summer vacations in schools.

According to a notification, the schools will reopen on August 2 after the summer vacations.

After the provinces were authorised to decide about the matter, Punjab government has asked the officials concerned in all districts to reopen schools on August 2 despite the ongoing wave of the pandemic.

The notification did not contain any instructions regarding coronavirus precautions but showed that the provincial government was concerned about the threat of dengue fever.

The government asked the chief executive officers of all district education authorities in the province to make all required cleanliness arrangements in schools to save students and staff from dengue fever.

After the notification, all government and private schools across Punjab are set to reopen after month-long summer vacations.

A couples of days earlier, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) had given the authority to the provinces to decide about extending the vacations while keeping in view the situation of Covid-19 in their areas.

Punjab government has now decided to open the schools despite the increasing cases of coronavirus.

Read Private schools get vacation notices

The latest official data shows that the novel coronavirus situation in the province is alarming. In addition, the province is also facing a threat of spread of the Delta variant of the virus. However, the government appears committed to opening the schools.

The notification, however, alerted the district authorities regarding the risk of dengue fever.

They were advised that cleanliness at schools should be improved before their reopening.

On the other hand, the parents, teachers and students are more concerned about the threat.

In the past 24 hours, at least 592 new coronavirus cases were reported in Punjab, while the disease caused 17 deaths, including six in Lahore.

The Covid-19 test positive ratio in the province has reached 3.4 per cent and it is still increasing day by day.

The infection rate is especially high in the big cities, including 3.5% in Lahore and 3% in Faisalabad.

Parents are particularly watching the situation with concern ahead of the reopening of the schools of their children.

"Coronavirus is at its peak and especially in Lahore the situation is becoming worse. Besides this, the threat of the more dangerous Delta variant of the virus is also there, so we are worried about our children," said Imran Butt, the father of a schoolboy in the provincial capital, while speaking to The Express Tribune.

He said the school going children were also fearful of coronavirus. "The weather is also hot and we were expecting that the government would extend the holidays. However, it did not consider these problems," he added.

Commenting on the decision, Punjab Teachers Union president Allah Rakha Gujjar said, "It is right that the province is not yet safe and the situation of coronavirus is once again alarming. Although we have made arrangements for safety of the students, we should also keep in view the ground reality that coronavirus is still prevalent. But being government employees, we have to obey the orders," he said about the decision to open the schools.

The school owners were also concerned.

"The government has issued the notification regarding opening of educational institutions, but private school owners are worried.

We are concerned because of the prevailing level of coronavirus spread and the government may be forced to reverse its decision in the coming days, but we are ready to open the schools desite our fears," said Kashif Adeeb Jawdani, president of the Private School Owners and Management Association of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th, 2021.