All schools and educational institutions in Sindh have been ordered to charge monthly fees from their students instead of issuing quarterly or bi-monthly challans, a notification issued by the government reads.
The provincial government has directed private schools to give full salaries to the teaching and other school staff on time.
“None of the staff will be terminated during this period as well,” the notification added.
If any schools defies the rules, their registrations will be suspended or cancelled.
The schools have been shut down and a lockdown has been imposed across the province to prevent the spread of coronavirus
With the coronavirus – declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation – spreading fast in Pakistan, the government has opted to shut down all schools, colleges and madrassas throughout the country till April 5 to control the spread of the virus.
Due to the closure of schools and colleges, the kids will have to stay at home to remain safe from the virus. The Current has listed a few exciting activities for the kids so that they can be more productive during these unexpected holidays.
Learning through YouTube channels
To make sure that your kids spend their holidays learning new things, what you can do is make technology their new friend. YouTube channels for kids, like Crash Course Kids, can be their new learning place. Other YouTube channels from where your kid can learn stuff are:
Science Channel
SciShow Kids
National Geographic Kids
Free School
Geography Focus
TheBrainScoop
SciShow
Kids Learning Tube
Geeek Gurl Diaries
Mike Likes Science
Science Max
SoulPancake
Apart from YouTube channels there are many free learning websites available over the internet for your kids to learn including:
It goes without saying that you cannot force your kids to study or watch informational videos all the time, therefore we have also done our research for some fun indoor activities for your kids to keep them busy.
Board games
Tinkering/upcycling with household junk
Paper games
Musical Chairs
Puzzles
If your children are still bored after playing all the games and insist on going out, the first thing you need to do is to explain to them why they can’t be outside and then can take them on a virtual tour of the 12 famous museums around the world. To go on a virtual tour, visit the link below:
Sindh Health Department is mulling over a proposal to issue an advisory for the public and requesting a ban on public events in Karachi, including the Pakistan Super League (PSL), after nine new coronavirus cases were confirmed in the port city on Monday, followed by another two in Sindh on Tuesday.
According to Geo, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials are in touch with the Sindh government regarding the fate of the PSL matches that are to be held in Karachi over the next two weeks.
“PCB officials are in constant touch with the Sindh government and attending all the meetings regarding PSL matches in the city,” a PCB spokesperson was quoted as saying.
The spokesperson further said that the board would follow the Sindh government’s directives. “However, for now, the matches are still scheduled for Karachi.”
As per the details of the two cases surfacing Tuesday, the first case of the novel coronavirus emerged in Hyderabad. The patient had reportedly come to Pakistan from Doha via Syria. The second case of the virus emerged in Karachi, putting the total tally of cases in the port city at 15.
The total number of infections in Pakistan has now reached 18.
ENGRO SHUTS DOWN KARACHI HARBOUR FRONT OFFICES:
Engro Corporation shut down its offices in the HarbourFront building on Tuesday after an employee was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.
Engro is a Pakistani multinational conglomerate company with subsidiaries involved in production of fertilizers, foods, chemicals, energy and petrochemicals. Its major subsidiaries, Engro Fertilizers, is one of the largest fertilizer manufacturers in the world.
A statement from the corporation stated that at 1 pm on Tuesday, an employee who worked at the eighth-floor office of the building was diagnosed with the coronavirus.
The statement further said that the employee was last in the office for a few hours on Friday, March 6, 2020. The organisation said it had decided to shut its offices for three days “on medical advice from our doctor and in consultation with relevant experts”.
“Only as a precautionary measure, all Engro offices at the HarbourFront building shall remain closed over the next three days, with business to resume on Monday, March 16, 2020,” read the statement.
The organisation told its employees to work from home for the next three days and stated that upon their return, they will be screened for the novel infection.
Meanwhile, Sindh education secretary has dismissed rumours claiming that the provincial government was mulling plans to extend school holidays across the province as the coronavirus pandemic worsens.
Earlier in the day, it had been reported that the provincial health department will send a recommendation to Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah for schools to remain shut for a longer period.
Speaking to a private media outlet, Khalid Shah said the Sindh government was not considering any recommendations seeking an extension in school holidays. “All educational institutions in Sindh will re-open on March 16,” he said.
The decision was taken during a meeting of the health department held on Tuesday morning under the chair of the province’s health minister.
The Punjab Education Department has announced that all schools in Lahore will close at 11 am on January 24 and 25 (Friday and Saturday) due to the Twenty20 series between Pakistan and Bangladesh scheduled to begin from Friday.
According to reports, educational institutes have been directed to let the children leave early on Friday and Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Lahore traffic police has also issued a traffic plan for the convenience of the citizens.
After consensus with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), Pakistan will be hosting the Bangladesh Cricket team in three different phases.
The Bangladesh cricket team arrived in Lahore Wednesday for the first phase which commences Friday as Pakistan and Bangladesh face each other at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. All three T20I matches in this phase will be played in Lahore on January 24, 25 and 27.
ICC officials have also landed in Lahore for the series.
Bangladesh team will return to play 1st Test on February 7-11 and after PSL, they will return to play one-off ODI and 2nd Test in Karachi’s National Stadium.
Lahore on Thursday once again topped the global list of cities with poor air quality as monitors showed an average “hazardous” Air Quality Index (AQI) of 335.
According to Newsweek Pakistan, residents of the capital of the country’s most populous province woke up again to the sight of a haze covering the city, with residents complaining of sore throats, itchy eyes and other ailments linked to inhaling toxic material through the smog that has increasingly become a regular fixture.
While the average AQI for the entire city stood at 335 around noon, parts of the city with individual air quality monitors showed the figure rising as high as 763, which posits a PM2.5 of nearly 900 ug/m3 — the equivalent of smoking nearly 40 cigarettes.
While smog is not a new phenomenon in Pakistan, it has taken on greater urgency this year amid ever worsening air quality that is particularly unhealthy for children, the elderly and the infirm. In 2007, the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered authorities to prepare a smog response action plan to overcome the health crisis. The Punjab Environment Protection Council, however, adopted a plan that utilised a modified AQI classification system, which claims a PM2.5 rating of 60 is “satisfactory” even though US AQI adopted by much of the world declares it “unhealthy”.
PM2.5 refers to atmospheric particulate matter that has a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, so small that they can only be detected with an electron microscope. These fine particles, which can come from various sources including power plants, motor vehicle emissions, and agricultural burning, last longer in the air than heavier particles. This increases chances of them being inhaled by humans and animals, where they can bypass the nose and throat and penetrate deep into the lungs. The air pollution worsens during winter, emerging as smog, due to temperature inversion, which produces a layer of warm air that traps air pollutants.
Meanwhile, schools on Friday will once again remain closed across the city due to smog.Both public and private schools in Gujranwala and Faisalabad will also remain shut.
The Punjab School Education Department has issued a notification in this regard as well.
A performance of a poem at the Faiz International Festival in 2019 has gone viral on social media.
The poem, ‘Sarfarsohi Ki Tamanna’ by Bismil Azimabadi was performed by a woman to a charged audience and has been posted multiple times on Twitter. The words are patriotic, written by Azimabadi in 1921 as a war cry for freedom during the British Raj.
The video went viral on social media
The poem started trending on social media with the hastag #StudentSolidarityMarch, with students and activists mobilizing people to join the student march on November 29th.
But not everyone was moved by the performance – or the people supporting its cause.
Activist Gulalai Ismail, who fled the country first tweeted that “Cool log hain yar! Bas entertainment tak Mehdood kar dia hai inqilab ko,” and then deleted her tweet, clarifying that:
Gulalai deleted the tweet (above), tweeting an apology later (below)
Others also called the students “maraasis” and were defended.
Oh look: a bunch of kids raise slogans and are immediately shamed as ‘meerasis’. Amazing. https://t.co/2xqLm9l6iJ
Which led activist Ammar Ali Jan to tweet out in support for the students.
Heartened to see the outpouring of support for the #StudentSolidarityMarch . I am also concerned about the baseless allegations of being elites made against these bright young people, who are daring to dream of a better world.
For the older generation of activists, it was a reminder of their old and golden days. Senior Journalist Iftikhar Ahmad remembered protesting on the streets of Mall Road, Lahore.
رضا، اس ویڈیو کو دیکھ کر مجھے اپنی جوانی یاد آگٗی، جوانی میں ہم بھی مال روڈ اور پنجاب یونیورسٹی میں ایسے ہی نعرے لگاتے،، ظفریاب، شاہد محمود ندیم، طارق لطیف، امان اللہ خان، اعجاز سیفی، سکندر حیات، ہمراز احسن، راشد بٹ، خالد چوہدری جیسے بہت سارے نوجوان طالب علم ایشیا سرخ کرنےچلے تھے https://t.co/8Paicmj3TE
Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar on Saturday announced that the province will take up Urdu as the medium of instruction at the primary level from the year 2020.
Taking to Twitter, the provincial chief executive wrote that time of both teachers and students was wasted in translation instead of comprehension due to the current medium of instruction, which is English.
As a result, he added, the students fail to learn anything new.
پرائمری سطح پر ذریعہ تعلیم (Medium of Instruction) انگلش ہونے کی وجہ سے اساتذہ اور بچوں کا سارا وقت مضمون کو سمجھنے کی بجائے ترجمہ کرنے میں صرف ہو جاتا ہے اور بچے کچھ نیا سیکھ نہیں پاتے
اگلے تعلیمی سال (مارچ 2020) سے پنجاب کے پرائمری سکولوں میں ذریعہ تعلیم اردو کر دیا جائے گا pic.twitter.com/yzXSyz0YHH
CM Buzdar revealed that a survey, with the help of teachers, parents and students, was conducted in 22 districts of the province, and over 85 per cent people in every category preferred Urdu over English as the medium of instruction.
He further said that English will only be taught as a language from March next year.
Continuing to desperately look for potential taxpayers, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has dispatched letters to parents paying Rs200,000 or more as their children’s annual school fee, The Express Tribune reported.
Aggressively digging the records of citizens who, at some stage, have come under prominent sections of the Income Tax Ordinance, the FBR has asked the parents to declare their hidden assets and become tax return filers.
“Data available with the FBR reveals that advance tax under Section 2361 of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 has been collected from you and deposited in the government treasury, meaning thereby that you are paying an annual fee exceeding Rs200,000 per child (student) to educational institutions,” said the letter sent by the FBR’s Corporate Regional Tax Office (RTO) in Lahore.
According to Section 2361, every educational institution is required to collect advance income tax at the rate of 5% on the fee paid. The person responsible for preparing monthly, bimonthly or quarterly fee vouchers shall also charge withholding tax in case the fee exceeds Rs200,000 annually.
“Please note that the FBR intends to register all those persons who are earning taxable income and are liable to file returns under the Income Tax Ordinance 2001, but have failed to do so,” it stated, adding the registration drive also included the persons who were liable to be registered under the Sales Tax Act 1990 or Federal Excise Act 2005.
Pakistan Army has rebuilt a girls school for higher secondary education where once existed the headquarters of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant Hakimullah Mehsud, a private media outlet reported.
The school, located in the Orakzai Agency of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Kohat division, was completely destroyed during the war on terror and later converted into the headquarters of Mehsud, who was the deputy to TTP commander Baitullah Mehsud.
With the war abated after years of unrest, Pakistan Army has rebuilt the school at the same spot.
The TTP has been a strong adversary of the idea of sending girls to schools. The militant group claims “educating women goes against Islam”.
In 2012, Nobel Peace Prize winner and activist Malala Yousafzai was also shot by the Taliban after advocating for girls’ education using a pen name, bringing global attention to the group’s violent threat on the nation’s young women.
