Back to school? PEIRA lets schools without online facilities call students once a week

The Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) has allowed schools that do not have online teaching facilities to call their students on campus once a week according to sources. This is only meant for the assignment of work to students and all the other rules are still in effect. All Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) must still be followed and the educational institutes are to ensure this.

Almost a month ago, the government ordered the closure of all educational institutes amid rising coronavirus cases and a fear of the deadly second wave that is expected to worsen in the winter. The institutes were closed till 24 December 2020 with winter vacations till 10 January 2021. PEIRA also barred education institutions from calling students during winter vacations.

The Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) allowed the schools in November to call students once or twice a week but said the final policy would be decided by the provincial education departments.

This situation has created a dilemma for schools as well as students that cannot afford online educations, especially some of the government schools that lack this facility, as there have been more than 2,000 corona cases daily since November 11, 2020. Pakistan also recorded the highest deaths ever (105) on December 15 since June 30 when they were 118.

Image Source: DH