Karachi: Following protests by the concerned parents, teachers and students in Karachi, the Sindh government has assured the private schools that they will be allowed to reopen from August 30, provided all staff are vaccinated against coronavirus.
On Monday morning, a large number of parents, teachers, non-teaching staff and students of private schools in Karachi staged a protest against the indefinite closure of the educational institutions in Sindh.
The demonstration was held at KDA Traffic Intersection in North Nazimabad area in Karachi where the participants held placards and banners and raised slogans urging the government to reopen schools in the province like elsewhere in the country.
Syed Tariq Shah, Chairman of All Private Schools’ Management Association Sindh, said schools in Sindh were being singled out when coronavirus cases were being reported all over the country.
He said the private schools in the province were compelled to launch a “Save Education” campaign to pressurise the Sindh government to immediately reopen schools in the best interest of the students.
He announced that if the government stuck with its decision, the private schools, as the last option, would resume their academic activities in open air outside their buildings for continuity of education of the students.
He said the government had no valid reason to keep the educational institutions shut for an indefinite period when the Steering Committee of provincial Education Department, after consulting the health experts, had decided to reopen schools from August 23 and also proposed a set of standard operating procedures for protecting the health of students and school staff.
After holding the demonstration, a delegation comprising representatives of the private schools held talks with Sindh Education and Culture Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah.
Talking to media persons, Shah announced the decision to reopen schools in Sindh from August 30 provided 100 per cent of their staff had received the vaccination.
He said that the schools will run with 50 per cent capacity. He said the decision had been taken to extend the closure of educational institutions to enhance the vaccination rate among the school staff.
He said the concerned parents desirous to send in their children to schools after their reopening would also be required to submit the proof that they had received the vaccination against coronavirus.
