SOPs are strictly being followed, no need to close Punjab schools, says Murad Raas

Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas on Friday said that schools in the province are strictly following the coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs), while those schools where positive COVID-19 cases emerged have been temporarily sealed.

In an interview with a private news channel, Raas shed light on the coronavirus situation across schools and said that Punjab is the only province which is strictly following coronavirus health guidelines.

“We are closely monitoring the situation because of which you are seeing very few cases of coronavirus among schoolchildren and teachers,” Raas maintained.

He added that there are 120,000 public and private schools in Punjab, so it is not possible to visit every school to monitor whether they were following protocols or not. So far, positive cases of the infection have been confirmed in 117 schools, out of which 16 have been sealed.

“We are carrying out random testing. When we find there is a single case, we suspend the classes, and if there are multiple cases reported on campus, we temporarily shut down those schools,” he said.

The minister stressed that schools are not being closed in Punjab because of the nature of the cases reported in different cities.

“At the end of the day, the lives of students and teachers is the most important thing to consider. However, an across-the-board decision is not possible because if there are more cases in Gujranwala, for instance, we cannot close schools in other cities. It does not make any sense.”

He said that the government opened the schools after a lot of planning and hard work.

“I am sending my children to school as well and I think the government took the right decision by reopening schools,” he said. “I think we are doing absolutely fine and there should be no winter vacation either. Unless there are concrete numbers available, it’s not right to take a drastic decision.”