KARACHI: Most private schools in the city have decided to reopen after summer vacation on Monday (Aug 3) despite a notification of extension by a week, to reopen on Aug 11, from the provincial education department.
“Earlier, when taking this decision, the education department didn’t even think of taking us on board. There were so many things to be considered such as disturbing the academic year and preparation for Independence Day but no one asked us what we thought. There is no flooding in Karachi and it has not even rained that much here, so why keep the schools closed?” said the chairman of the Private School Management Association (PSMA), Sharaf uz Zaman.
Along with the notification there is the threat of arresting the school heads who defy government orders and open schools on Aug 3.
“They say that the area police stations and SHOs have been put on alert to arrest the school owners or principals who open the schools before the new issued date,” said the educationalist.
“I distinctly remember something like this happening during ex-education minister Hamida Khuhro’s time too. She wanted to keep schools closed until Aug 15 but most private schools defied her orders and reopened early because they wanted to celebrate Independence Day on Aug 14,” he said.
“We teachers pass on this spirit of freedom to generations of children by celebrating the day with fervour. We hold practices for the specially-planned programmes for it. As it is it takes two to four days for all the students to settle down after coming back from their summer holidays. Full attendance also happens after a few days so reopening on Aug 3 is ideal. So we will reopen on Aug 3 as no one can stop us from celebrating Independence Day. Still if the government thinks it such a terrible crime and wants to arrest us or fine us for it, so be it,” he said.
While there are only around 1,500 government schools in Karachi, there are over 22,000 private schools in the city. A press conference was also held about the matter of extending summer vacation at the Karachi Press Club on Friday.
The conference was called by the Peak Private Schools Management Association and All Private Schools Management Association (APSMA).
Haider Ali and Shahzad Akhtar of the Peak Private Schools also said that they would be reopening the schools on Aug 3 and would be holding special prayers for those affected by the rains and flooding. They also said that the weather in Karachi gave no excuse to keep the schools closed so they will reopen and besides carrying on with their studies would also make preparations for Independence Day celebrations at their schools.
“See, I met Education Secretary Dr Pechuho in the afternoon on Friday and explained to him our view. I told him that schools not just in Karachi but in other areas in the province, where the rains haven’t caused damage or problems, should also reopen as the students in those schools should help their brothers and sisters affected by the rains and be collecting funds and other items of necessity for them during this difficult time. But even though he saw my point of view and agreed with me to some extent, he refused to take back the order as he said that it was initiated from Chief Minister House,” said Khalid Shah, chairman of the APSMA.
“So we decided to hold a press conference regarding the matter where we announced that we were going ahead with reopening the schools on Aug 3. Now after that press conference we are being warned of the consequences of our actions,” he said, adding that if the government wanted to arrest them, they didn’t mind it because it was going to be for the cause of education.
Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2015
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