Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood on Wednesday announced that Pakistani schools in coronavirus hotspot areas will remain closed till April 11.
He made the announcement to the media after an important meeting of federal and provincial education and health ministers at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) amid an alarming rise in coronavirus cases in the country.
Mehmood also said the government will meet with representatives of the Cambridge International Examinations board, which holds O and A Levels examinations, to see whether the exams can be postponed or not.
Meanwhile, exams held by local boards will go ahead as scheduled, he said.
The minister — whose school closure announcements have made him a favourite of school-going students during the coronavirus epidemic — started trending on Twitter almost as soon as he made the announcement.
Twitterati celebrated the announcement of an extended Spring Break with colourful memes, but others felt left out.