KARACHI: The Sindh government postponed on Friday the decision to resume classes for students of grade six to eight from September 21 to September 28 amid concerns over violation of SOPs.

While addressing a press conference in Karachi, Sindh Education and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani said that the hardest decision to take after the lockdown was reopening schools.

“I reviewed the SOPs in various private schools in the city,” he said. “Some had made good arrangements, while others did not,” he said.

Ghani added that the situation was likely to worsen with an increase in the number of students from other classes. Hence, the decision to open secondary classes from September 21 has been postponed till September 28.

“If the situation remains the same, the decision to reopen schools will be further postponed,” Ghani added.

According to the education minister, the matter regarding reopening schools in Sindh will be reviewed. “The Sindh government will not compromise on children’s health,” he added.

Ghani informed that the matter was being taken up with federal government and the provincial government was apprising it of the situation.

“All teachers have been asked to undertake [Covid-19] tests,” he said, adding that free tests were being conducted for teachers of private and public educational institutions.

Earlier in the day, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) stated that at least 13 educational institutions across Pakistan had been closed down in the last 24 hours due to non-compliance of health guidelines or standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Out of these 13 educational institutions 10 were closed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and three in Sindh.

The current closure of schools came a day after the NCOC had announced closing down 22 schools in the country  due to non-compliance of SOPs.

As many as 16 educational institutions were closed in KP, one in Islamabad and five in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).