ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government is working to get students back to the classrooms and reopen schools, colleges and universities across the country from September 15 if the coronavirus situation improves. In a press conference, the minister said further discussions will be held on the matter and authorities will review the decision in August in light of the coronavirus situation in the country. If the crisis is not curbed, schools and universities will not be opened, he said. Mahmood said that it had been decided to allow schools to call its administration staff before September 15 and announced that trainings will be conducted to ensure that SOPs are implemented. He said that provinces will be responsible for ensuring SOPs that are followed, cautioning schools to follow the procedures laid out by the government. “It is my request to private schools, especially, that the SOPs that you will have to follow will be the ones made by the government,” he said. The minister said that universities had recommended to the government that PhD students should be allowed, in a limited quantity, to universities. “How they decide to call students, we leave it up to the universities,” he said. He touched upon the problems faced by students in some areas where there was a lack of internet facilities, saying that some students were unable to study properly due to it.