KARACHI – Educational institutions across all districts of Karachi will stay closed till June 6. On Saturday, the government announced that all private and public schools in 12 (out of 23) Sindh districts will stay closed. Those districts include Hyderabad, Sukkur, Nawabshah, Dadu, and Badin. More developments are expected on schools. This story will be updated throughout Saturday.

The decision was taken after the coronavirus infection rate in these areas rose above 5%.

In a coronavirus task force meeting on Saturday, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said that cases increased during the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.

The infection rate in Karachi was 13.97%. The highest number of cases were reported in District East.

The All Sindh Private Schools and Colleges Association has opposed the government’s decision to keep schools closed in Karachi.

The association’s chairperson Haider Ali said that permission should be given to reopen educational institutions in areas with low infection rates. “Except for Karachi and Hyderabad, coronavirus infections in the province have been recorded at 4%.”

There are more than 10 million students across Sindh and exams are just around the corner, Ali pointed out. “Closing schools now will mean wasting another educational year.

Earlier this week, the NCOC announced that schools in areas with a less than 5% Covid-19 infection rate can reopen. Educational institutions in Islamabad, 20 districts of Punjab, 19 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan will restart classes from Monday, May 24.