Winter vacations for Pakistans schools start January 3: NCOC – Geo News

Winter vacations for Pakistani students to start from January 3, NCOC announces.
NCOC exempts areas affected by extreme weather conditions or fog from its decision.
Says decision to push winter vacations ahead taken to maximise coronavirus vaccination among students.

ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has finally decided January 3, 2022 as the date for the commencement of winter vacations of the educational institutions across the country.

The date was finalised Friday during a meeting of the NCOC, headed by Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives and NCOC chief Asad Umar, held to review the rescheduling of winter vacations.

The meeting decided that the areas affected by extreme weather conditions or fog are exempted from the decision. Provincial authorities will notify accordingly, the NCOC said.

The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, and other stakeholders.

A statement issued by the NCOC stated that the decision to push the vacations ahead was taken to maximise coronavirus vaccination among the students, which can be best achieved when the schools are open.

Millions of students remain unvaccinated and may be susceptible to infection as per the data, the NCOC stated, urging parents to get their children vaccinated against the virus at the earliest to ensure safety.

The statement further said that the global trends regarding the spread of the Omicron strain suggest that an upsurge of cases typically happens within a few weeks of the variant’s detection.

“Keeping in view this information, it will be prudent to schedule winter vacations in Pakistan in January to coincide with the potential uptick of cases. This will allow for minimal disruption of educational calendars if there is a surge in cases,” it read.

The NCOC also urged all citizens to ensure their 100% vaccination, saying that complete vaccination offers the highest protection against the disease.

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