Coronavirus: Education ministry asks private schools in Islamabad to slash fees by 20%

The Federal Education Ministry ordered private education schools in the federal capital to slash their fees by 20% due to the coronavirus third wave, showed a notification issued on Monday.

Following the order by the ministry, a notification was also issued by the Private Education Institutions Regulatory Authority directing schools to reduce their fees by 20% for April and May.

Read more: On-campus classes in schools to be suspended for grades 1-8 till April 28, says Shafqat Mehmood

The notification said that the order will apply to institutions charging fees of Rs8,000 or more from students.

Pakistan's coronavirus death toll below 100 for first time since April 25

The orders by the ministry came as Pakistan reported deaths below 100 after several days as 79 people lost their lives to coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the total death tally to 18,149 nationwide on Monday.

The last time the country reported below 100 deaths was on April 25 when 70 people succumbed to the virus nationwide.

According to the latest data provided by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 4,213 people tested positive for COVID-19 when 45,954 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours across the country.

Read more: Islamabad schools may remain closed for an extended period, says report

The positivity rate of coronavirus cases stands at 9.16% with total cases at 834,146. Meanwhile, the total number of active cases stands at 87,953 with the nationwide recoveries rising to 728,044.

Punjab remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic, both in terms of cases as well as deaths, followed by Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan.

Read more: Pakistan cuts international flights to 20% to curb COVID-19 cases

To date, 306,929 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Punjab, 285,626 in Sindh, 120,064 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 22,620 in Balochistan, 76,209 in Islamabad, 17,371 in Azad Kashmir, and 5,327 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Furthermore, 8,572 individuals have lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab, 4,667 in Sindh, 3,310 in KP, 237 in Balochistan, 691 in Islamabad, 483 in Azad Kashmir, and 107 in GB.