PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Wednesday notified the latest education policy in line with the federal government's decision to shut down educational institutes to contain the rising spread of coronavirus in the community.
According to the notification issued by KP Elementary and Secondary Education Department, the educations institutions will be closed for students from November 26 to January 10 next year. From November 26 to December 23, teachers will continue to work from schools and provide online lessons or weekly assignments. The winter vacations will start December 24 and end next year on January 10.
Schools, academies, seminaries, and other educational institutions that cannot adopt e-learning are "authorised to call in students on grade basis in such a way that one grade students are called for attendance for only one day in a week and that too as per staggered schedule for giving homework, assignment and distributing learning material and providing teaching assistance".
All internal school exams planned for December have been postponed till January next year. The government has limited 30% occupancy for boarding schools for the November 26 to December 23 period.
Read more: KP mulls early winter vacation in schools as coronavirus cases spike
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Minister Shahram Khan Tarakai addressed a press conference on the matter and said the province will be relying on home learning and children will be allowed to visit their schools once a week to get their homework checked.
“We are planning that kids from every class will come to school once a week and the homework is given to them will be discussed by teachers,” said Tarakai, while explaining the way forward for schools because of the NCOC decision.
The minister said that the students will discuss their problems with their teachers when they come to school and will get homework for the next week as well.
“This process will run weekly for every class, so there is no rush in schools and SOPS are followed,” explained the minister. He added that they had proposed this method of teaching because of the children’s and teacher’s safety.
Tarakai said that this will be applicable to all private and government schools, especially to those that do not have an online education facility.
The minister explained that the provincial government has also allowed the schools to fill their hostels with 30% capacity with those children who come from “far-flung” areas and do not have access to the internet.
Tarakai stated that the exams that were scheduled for December have also been shifted to mid-January as they cannot be held during home learning.
The education minister further shared that the provincial government will continue with the recruitment of teachers during the process to ensure that the shortage is fulfilled as soon as the holiday ends. He added that candidates who apply for the posts will not be allowed to sit in the exams without a mask and will have to follow the SOPs.
Read more: Coronavirus cases reach 225 in KP schools, says health department
On Monday, Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood said that all schools across the country will remain closed until January 10, 2021, in the wake of the rising coronavirus cases.
"All ministers have mutually decided that to keep all educational institutions, including schools, colleges, universities, and tuition centres closed. However, online classes will continue from November 26 to December 24 after which winter break will start. Schools will reopen on January 11, 2021," Shafqat Mahmood had said.
The decision was taken during the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) convened to discuss the closure of educational institutions.
Minister Shafqat Mahmood had said that children's health and safety is the top-most priority of the government, adding that examinations scheduled to take place in December will be postponed, with the exception of a few professional exams.
During the meeting, it was decided that micro-decisions regarding examinations and other matters will be taken by the respective provinces.