"All the educational institutes including public and private schools, colleges, universities, and madaris in the country will remain closed till May 31, 2020". This was stated by Shafqat Mehmood, Federal Minister for Education, Professional Training and National Heritage on Twitter.
"This closure will be treated as summer vacation and if by the grace of Allah the corona problem is resolved, educational institution will reopen in June," he added. Mehmood said that the school closure was ordered by the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on the recommendation of inter-provincial education ministers meeting held here on Thursday.
The NCC was chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan here on Thursday. An important inter-provincial Education ministers' video conference took place on Thursday, also attended by the chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC). The inter-provincial Education ministers' meeting finalised recommendations for the National Coordination Committee.
Following the ministers' recommendations, the NCC ordered the closure of all education institutions in the country till May 31. This includes public and private schools, colleges, universities, and madaris, he added. However, the educational authorities would continue to engage with students either through TV or online.
Federal Education Ministry will launch a TV channel in early April with lessons for school students. Many students have complained about the poor quality of online courses being run by the universities. The HEC has taken notice of this and is endeavouring to improve the quality of online teaching, the minister added.