As the fifth wave, fueled by the Omicron variant, intensifies across the country, so do calls from students and parents to close educational institutions.
All eyes were on the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC), which was scheduled to meet earlier today to decide on the closure of schools, colleges, and universities in light of the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
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The IPEMC, on the other hand, was postponed until next week, just hours before it was scheduled to meet. The Federal Education Minister, Shafqat Mahmood, has not specified the reasons for the delay.
In response to parents and students who had inquired about the closure of schools and colleges, Punjab Education Minister Dr. Murad Raas took to Twitter and questioned why educational institutes should be the first to close.
For all the inquirers whether Schools are closing or NOT? In my opinion, every other activity specially Social activity has to be stopped before schools. Schools should be the absolute last in line to close. The learning losses of our children in the past 2 years – Unimaginable.
— Murad Raas (@DrMuradPTI) January 13, 2022
He wrote that before closing schools and colleges, all other activities, particularly social activities, should be suspended, and that the proposal to close educational institutions should be considered last.
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The Minister also expressed grave concern about the loss of learning that occurs as a result of the closure of schools and colleges, noting that students have already suffered unimaginable learning loss in the last two years as a result of the closure of educational institutes due to the Coronavirus pandemic.