Is the govt considering allowing students to visit schools once a week?

• Schools to be given a relief package amid pandemic
  
• Registration of private schools extended for a year
• Schools with lower fees to be granted interest-free loans

The federal government on Friday decided to allow students to visit schools once a week, sources said Friday, as it approved a relief package for the pandemic-hit private educational institutions.

The development came after a delegation of the association of private educational institutions met Secretary Education Farah Hamid, sources within the education ministry said.

Private schools with a low fee structure would be granted interest-free loans, sources said, adding that the registration of private schools has been extended for a year.

Watch: Overjoyed students chant slogans in favour of Shafqat Mahmood after his press conference

The federal board has also decided to extend the deadline for sending admission forms, sources said.

Meanwhile, the delegation urged the secretary of education to reopen the schools at any cost on January 11 — the official date announced by the government.

Read more: When did schools close in Pakistan?

On November 23, Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood had announced that all schools across the country would remain closed until January 10, 2021, in the wake of the rising coronavirus cases.

"All ministers have mutually decided that to keep all educational institutions, including schools, colleges, universities, and tuition centres closed. However, online classes will continue from November 26 to December 24 after which winter break will start. Schools will reopen on January 11, 2021," Shafqat Mahmood said.

Read more: Schools shut because coronavirus SOPs were not being followed

The decision was made during the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) convened to discuss school closures.