ISLAMABAD , April 06 : An important meeting of the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) will be held today with all education and health ministers to decide further on closure or reopening of schools amid the worsening coronavirus situation in the country.

In a tweet, the NCOC said the meeting will also review the SOPs for Ramadan in light of the suggestions of religious scholars.

The session will be chaired by Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar. Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mehmood and Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Pir Noorul Haq Qadri will attend.

A press briefing is expected after the meeting during which the decisions taken by the NCOC would be made public.

The federal government had earlier shut all educational institutions in cities where the coronavirus positivity ratio was high till April 11.

Punjab University issues revised schedule for submission of MA, MSC admission forms.

On Sunday, Mehmood said that education and health ministers will meet at the NCOC on April 6 (today) to decide whether to open or further close educational institutions.

In a tweet, the minister said that the exam situation will also be discussed during the meeting.

“Whatever is decided will be a collective decision of the country’s health and education authorities & NCOC,” he had said.

Students are staging protests in major cities demanding postponement of exams as in-person learning has been badly affected due to the closure of schools.

Students look to Shafqat Mehmood a day before important NCOC meeting.

On the other hand, the Sindh government has suspended on-campus learning till class 8 from April 6 for 15 days, citing risks of the spread of COVID-19.

The provincial government has also suggested the Centre impose a ban on inter-provincial and air transport to control the third wave of coronavirus which has wreaked havoc in the last few weeks.