No winter vacations for Pakistani students this year: education ministry

There won’t be any winter vacations for Pakistani students this year, the Federal Ministry of Education announced on Thursday.

The education ministers of all provinces met today in Islamabad to decide the fate of educational institutions across the country. Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood chaired the meeting.

The ministers decided that schools and colleges will remain open throughout winters as per schedule. “Students have suffered huge educational loss this year due to the coronavirus lockdown and they can’t afford vacations,” the ministers agreed.

Mahmood said that the coronavirus situation in the country was not grave enough to shut down schools and colleges yet. He did, however, warn that there will be no compromise on the health of students.

The meeting added that they will, however, discuss the fate of schools in northern areas because of the harsh weather conditions.

Earlier this week, the Higher Education Commission confirmed that Pakistani universities are not being closed again.

The HEC said that only the health authorities can direct the closure of universities if they feel that the corona cases have risen above critical threshold.

Pakistan reopened its schools in September after a closure of over six months. Private school owners had complained that they were unable to take the financial hit and many people argued that children were losing out as not everyone had access to online classes.

Second wave of coronavirus

On October 28, the National Command and Control Centre said that all markets and shopping malls in 11 major cities of Pakistan will close by 10pm to counter the second wave of the novel coronavirus.

The cities include Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad, Karachi, Multan, Gilgit, Lahore, Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Peshawar and Quetta.

The NCOC even made it compulsory for people to wear masks each time they leave their houses.

The guidelines say that people must wear masks if they are going to crowded places. Masks also have been made compulsory at both government and private offices.

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