Private schools body rejects closure of schools till August

LAHORE (92 News) – The All Pakistan Private Schools Federation (APPSF) has rejected the closure of schools till August. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, APPSF president Kashif Mirza announced to start protest for the fulfillment of their just demands. He said that the new strategy would be devised in consultation with all stakeholders. Kashif Mirza demanded that the schools should be reopened under standard operating procedures (SOPs) like other departments. Earlier, Federal Education Ministers announced that they have agreed on reopening educational institutes across the country in first week of September. According to sources, the decision was taken in Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) chaired by Minister for Federal Education Shafqat Mehmood and attended by ministers of all four provinces, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Kashmir. The sources also said the meeting decided to reopen schools with all the COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place. “Schools will be reopened after taking a look at the coronavirus situation in the country. It was also reported that the final decision to reopen schools will be taken by the National Command and Control Centre.