Islamabad, Jan 4 : The Pakistan government on Monday announced its decision to reopen educational institutions across the country in a phased manner from January 18. Addressing a media briefing here, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood said that in the first phase, classes nine to 12 will resume from January 18, reports Dawn news. He said that in the second phase, classes one to eight will resume on January 25. Meanwhile, all higher educational institutions would resume from February 1, he added. Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan in March 2020, all educational institutions remained closed until September 15. But due to a resurgence, the educational institutions across the country were closed again on November 26, 2020, after remaining open for about two-and-a-half-months. /IANS