The Pakistan government is mulling the reopening of educational institutions across the country in a phased manner from January 25, a media report said.

The Express Tribune report published on Friday however, said that a final decision was yet to be taken on the matter.

The report further said that the federal Education Ministry has called for an inter-provincial conference on Monday to deliberate on the issue, as well as finalising the schedule of examinations for the 2020-21 academic year.

Due to the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the country, it has been suggested that primary schools in both public and private sector should be reopened from January 25 in the first phase, while middle and secondary schools should be restart from February 4 in the second phase, said The Express Tribune report.

"If the situation continues to deteriorate, the proposals may be deferred and another inter-provincial ministerial conference on education may be held on January 19," a Ministry official told the newspaper.

"Any decision will be made keeping in view the trend and the number of patients in hospitals and the current pressure on the health system of the country," the official added.

Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan in March 2020, all educational institutions remained closed until September 15.

But due to a resurgence, the educational institutions across the country were closed again on November 26, 2020, after remaining open for about two-and-a-half-months.
(IANS)