Bureau Report
KARACHI: Millions of students across the country returned to classes on Tuesday after a break of six months, as schools and colleges began to reopen for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus in February.
Educational institutes were closed in March as the coronavirus began to spread in the country, but, with daily infection numbers falling, the government last week announced a staggered resumption of classes.
“May Allah make us successful in this test, and may the loss suffered by the students be compensated,” Minister of Education Shafqat Mahmood told reporters in Islamabad.
Senior schools were the first to restart, with middle school set to go back next week and primary school the week after. The long closure led to the cancellations of exams and left academic calendars in disarray. “Studies have been very badly affected,” Naseem Akhtar, principal of a girls’ school in the port city of Karachi, said. “We appreciate the decision of the government to open schools from today.”
Mahmood warned that schools that did not following precautionary measures, including the wearing of masks and social distancing, would be closed. “The safety of these children is in our hands,” Karachi teacher Sameera Chaudhry said. Pakistan has recorded 302,424 cases of the coronavirus and more than 6,300 deaths but daily infections have been slowing from a peak of nearly 7,000, and 118 deaths, in one day in June.
