Sindh Decides To Reopen Secondary Classes Across Province Under SOPs

The Sindh government has decided to reopen secondary classes across the province under SOPs after a reduction in coronavirus cases.

According to details, in a tweet on social networking site Twitter, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani said that a meeting of Sindh Coronavirus Task Force was held under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.

In his tweet, Saeed Ghani said that if the situation improves further, primary classes will be started from June 21. Vaccination of school staff will be mandatory for the commencement of classes.

سندھ کرونا ٹاسک فورس کے اجلاس میں چھٹی سے آٹھویں جماعت تک کی کلاسز کل بروز منگل 15 جون سے %50 حاضری کیساتھ کھولنے کا فیصلہ کیا گیا ہے اور کرونا کی صورتحال میں مزید بہتری آنے کی صورت میں پرائمری کلاسز 21 جون سے شروع کردی جائینگی۔ اسکولوں کے سارے عملے کو vaccinated ہونا لازمی ہوگا

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— Senator Saeed Ghani (@SaeedGhani1) June 14, 2021

On the other hand, a meeting of the provincial task force on coronavirus was held under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah. Representatives of Police, Additional Chief Secretary Home, Provincial Secretaries, Dr Bari, Dr Faisal, Dr Sara Khan, Dr Qaiser Sajjad, Corps Five and Rangers attended.

Addressing the participants of the meeting, the Chief Minister said that the diagnosis rate of COVID-19 patients in the province has come down to 4.5 per cent and the pressure on the hospitals has eased a bit.

Murad Ali Shah said that 37105 passengers were tested at the airport on June 12, out of 37105 passengers 80 tested positive and 50 patients have recovered.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that a total of 9.5 new cases were diagnosed in Karachi, the diagnosis rate in Hyderabad is 5.65%, 192 patients have died so far in June.

Karachi: (June 14th, 2021) Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah presides over a meeting of Provincial Task Force on Coronavirus at CM House.

Media Cell Team
Sindh Chief Minister House.https://t.co/ggERO3kIgJhttps://t.co/XPyVBUI33Qhttps://t.co/cjIgNjj5Bc pic.twitter.com/p4gymZQQCu

— CMHouseSindh (@SindhCMHouse) June 14, 2021

Earlier, addressing a press conference in Karachi, he said the examination schedule for Sindh will be announced by the provincial educational department within the next couple of days.

The minister added that the government will make sure that coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs) are strictly followed while conducting exams.

The minister added that the Sindh government will follow the decisions taken during the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) implying that the province would also assess grades nine and matric based on elective subjects and math, while grades 11 and 12 will only be assessed on the basis of electives.

Note that Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood said that students of ninth and matric across the country would be examined on the basis of math and elective subjects.

Shafqat Mehmood, explaining the decision during a press conference in Islamabad, said only four exams, including math for ninth and matric, will be conducted — computer science, biology, physics, and chemistry.

No student would be awarded grades without attempting exams this year, the federal education minister stressed. “If we do not conduct the exams, then students will not even employ minimum efforts to study,” he added.

Shafqat’s press conference came after he chaired a meeting of provincial education ministers and officials from the education departments, according to the education ministry.

Classes 11 and 12 will be assessed only on elective subjects, said Mehmood. “This decision will make the examination process easier for students.”

The minister said the exams of elective subjects were being conducted as students aspiring to opt for a selected field could be assessed on the basis of their elective subjects.

The education minister said boards were preparing to conduct exams from June 24, and now, to facilitate students, we have asked them to begin examinations after July 10.

“We have also asked boards to keep some gap between the exams,” he said, as he explained the government had taken several steps to ease the process on the students as the educational institutions could not complete the course work.

The education minister said exams of classes 10 and 12 would be conducted first — from July 10 — and the examinations of classes 9 and 11 will be conducted once they end.

The minister said the government wants all the results to be issued by the third week of September so that timely issuance of results will help the students secure admissions in universities.

The education minister noted the government had decided to shut down schools as it had become necessary due to the coronavirus situation. “We then reduced the syllabus by 40%.”

The minister said educational institutions were allowed to conduct the classes of 10 and 12, and now, the classes of 9 and 11 will also be conducted.

Mehmood said no teacher invigilating the exams can perform their duties without getting the coronavirus vaccine, and that is why the government has begun their inoculation on a priority basis.

“We have assured the provinces in this regard and asked them to seek assistance if they face any setbacks,” he said.

The minister noted that if the people affiliated with the education sector were vaccinated, it would be easier for the government to reopen them.

The universities have been asked to consider A-Level students, who will be attempting their exams in October and November, for provisional admissions.

The education minister said the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) played an active role during the pandemic.