April 11, 2008	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 4, 1429

KARACHI, April 10: Due to the violent incidents of April 9, attendance in schools and colleges of the city remained thin on Thursday.

In a number of cases, parents fearing a more riotings in the wake of Wednesday’s violence avoided sending their children to schools and colleges. Apart from this, most of the operators of school vans did not turn up to pick up students as a precautionary measure. A number of parents told Dawn that they did not send their children to their schools because they were not certain whether the schools would remain open on Thursday.

Students’ plea

Students of Class-XI and XII of different colleges have urged the Sindh governor to direct the Board of Intermediate Education, Karachi, to waive the condition of 75 per cent compulsory attendance required for appearing in their examinations, which are scheduled to begin from the middle of May.

They said that most of them could not meet the condition of 75 per cent attendance as the colleges remained closed on a number of occasions or due to the various violent incidents that had occurred during the past few months had compelled them to stay at home during the current academic session.

They hoped that Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad would direct the chairmen of the intermediate boards to relax the condition of 75 per cent compulsory attendance.