ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood has said that the government wants to keep educational institutes open amid reports of the spread of new COVID-19 variant Omicron.<\/p>\n
The new strain, Omicron, is highly contagious and is spreading fast across the globe.<\/p>\n
First discovered in South Africa, it has now been detected in Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Botswana, Israel, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, and the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n
However, when asked about the education department’s plans to deal with the threat, the education minister said: “I don’t know about the new variant of coronavirus in detail, but the government wants to continue educational activities.”<\/p>\n
Mahmood said that examinations will be held on time, and the entire syllabus will be covered in it.<\/p>\n
Moreover, while talking about the closure of schools in Punjab in light of the smog situation in Lahore, Mahmood said that the closure of schools thrice a week will bring down smog levels as it always has.<\/p>\n
The Punjab government had decided to shut down private and government schools in Lahore thrice a week as the smog situation in the provincial capital has taken a turn for the worse.<\/p>\n