Lahore schools shut down for smog-related activities.

In its notification, the district education authority also instructs teachers to conduct classes online while sitting at their houses LAHORE: The district education authority has declared the smog cover over the district a justification for “immediate” closing down of all public and private schools within the area of the smog cover while the residents remain within the thick haze. As per the notification, teachers are heard to have been asked to conduct classes from home through the internet during the “smog holidays.” The activities that the authority has ordered the suspension of include parent-teacher meetings, school trips, sports activities and any other associated events that school takes place on. Furthermore, the teachers of public institutions have been noted to remain at home while continuing with their tasks with the help of the internet in order to facilitate learning advancement.The notification, however, pointed out that the anti-dengue measures will continue as per the routine. This development comes up in the wake of measures taken by the Punjab administration aimed at reducing the menace of smog among the people of Lahore without restricting day-to-day operations inclusive of student activities and study. Lahore, Pakistan, has once again been reported as the city with the worst Air Quality Index (AQI) in the world. Its levels surpassed 700, making the air quality hazardous and placing it above New Delhi, the capital of India, which had a reading of 376 on the AQI scale. Data obtained from Swiss IQAir shows that the air quality in Pakistan, specifically Lahore, has been on a continuous decline, with Lahore surpassing the 800 mark last Thursday. By the end of the week, some areas of the city saw an AQI of 1900 which is 120 times the recommended level and further led to bans on some construction and the general public being instructed to work from home. Punjab’s Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb stated and highlighted the fact that Punjab has been one of the countries heavily affected by pollution, with its residents facing dire consequences with weeks on end of inhospitable air due to neighboring wind pollution with levels crossing 1000 on the AQI scale. The provincial government further extended the ban for secondary schools, private institutions, and other educational institutions in all the districts of Punjab up till November 17.