(Karachi) Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani has said that academic activities in the province will resume from April 22, local media reported on Tuesday.

In a statement, Ghani said that the Sindh government had already announced to halt regular classes from Class 1 to 8.

He stated that the provincial governments have the powers to make their own decisions keeping in view the COVID situation. He said that the pandemic situation is under control in Sindh as no district is specifically affected by the virus.

The education minister said that the positivity rate of COVID-19 cases in educational institutions stands at 2.6 percent. He announced that the academic process from Class 9 to 12 will continue and examinations will be held as per schedule.

The minister pointed out that no student will be promoted to the next level without appearing in the examinations.

On April 4, Saeed Ghani announced that all private and government schools across Sindh will remain closed for two weeks. He said that the decision has been taken keeping in view the worsening coronavirus situation.

Earlier, Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood had announced that the National Command and Control Centre (NCOC) had decided that exams for grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 will be held in the third week of May.

He also announced that exams for A and O levels will be held according to the date sheet and there will be no change in this.

Meanwhile, the NCOC has decided that there will be no in-person classes for grades 1 to 8 in areas affected by coronavirus till April 28. While, classes for grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 will be allowed to resume from April 19.