It can be argued that one sector that has been severely affected by the spread of COVID-19 has been the education sector. As international examinations have been cancelled and various universities have canceled their exams. This has also been the case in Pakistan as institutions have been closed since March. Recently, Saeed Ghani, the Sindh Education Minister, stated that schools are currently in no position to be open.
The Sindh Education Minister stated in a recent statement that the provincial government was not in a position to reopen schools across the province. He talked to the media and said: “Even if we try, we cannot reopen schools”. This is primarily due to the fact that the government believes that parents still do not consider schools to be a safe space to send their children. Some believe that if schools were reopened regardless, schools will undoubtedly have significantly less attendance.
Saeed Ghani also announced that currently, the Sindh government have been planning a launch of an application in an effort to start a digital classroom. He said that this serves to be the first step towards a digital environment as he mentioned: “Internet distribution is still a problem and we are in touch with cellular services”. They are currently in constant communication with cable operators to allocate one channel for educational purposes only. He added: “We will try to include as many students as we can in our system”. This app will be available for students from kindergarten till the fifth grade.
For the time being, they plan to train teachers on how to teach effectively through the digital medium. The minister stressed: “Through this app, students can study in English, Urdu and Sindhi”. It was noted that schools may not be reopened for another six months and hence the need for a new online curriculum needs to be introduced. Adding in to this by concluding: “will not take the risk to send children to school”. Schools in Sindh will be opened on a date that will be notified later as the National Coordination Committee also said that schools would remain closed till July 15
