Punjab, KP announce reopening of schools from April 19

• Classes to resume in educational institutes in high-risk areas that were earlier shut down.
• Classes 9, 10, 11, 12 to resume in public and private schools on April 19.
• Classes 1-8 in high-risk districts will begin studies after Eid-ul-Fitr in Punjab.
• In KP, classes 1-8 shall remain closed till April 27.

Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday announced the resumption of classes 9 to 12, days after the provincial governments had closed the educational institutes in districts with a high coronavirus positivity ratio earlier this month.

In Punjab, classes 9, 10, 11, 12 will start in public and private schools on April 19 — and will take place only on Monday and Thursday — the province's education minister Murad Ras said.

The minister said the classes will resume in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot, Multan, TT Singh, Sargodha, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, and DG Khan.

Classes 1-8 in high-risk districts will begin studies after Eid-ul-Fitr, the minister added.

Classes will continue in all other districts across Punjab — as the government had only imposed restrictions on high-risk districts.

Examinations for classes 9-12, O, and A-Level will be conducted as per schedule, the education minister added.

KP schools

Similarly, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Shahram Khan Tarakai said the provincial coronavirus task force had decided classes 9-12 would resume from April 19.

"It is planned to stagger classes of grade 9, 10, 11, 12 under the strict compliance of SOPs while the rest of the classes will be started from 27 April 2021," he said.

"All public and private educational institutions including cadet colleges, model schools, madaris, academies and tuition centers in the Districts of Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda, Mardan, Swabi, Kohat, Swat, Malakand, Dir Lower, Dir Upper, Buner, Bajaur, Khyber, Shangla, Abbottabad, Haripur, Chitral Upper, Chitral Lower, Mansehra, DI Khan, and Bannu shall commence classes for grade-9 to grade-12 from 19 April," a notification from the education department said.

Meanwhile, the remaining classes, i.e., from grade-1 to grade-8, shall remain closed till April 27, the notification said.

The districts where educational institutions have not been closed because of the COVID-19 situation shall continue to hold all classes as per standing instructions, it added.