KARACHI: All army-run educational institutes in the metropolis will remain shut throughout the week starting Wednesday, school administration officials said.

Students and parents were informed that all institutes under the Army Public Schools & Colleges System in Karachi will remain closed on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and will reopen after the weekend on Monday, officials told DawnNews.

According to the school officials, the step has been taken because all army-run schools across the country follow a combined syllabus and the school closure will 'enable synchronisation of studies across all schools'.

However, security sources DawnNews spoke to said the announcement was made in light of security concerns for schools.

In wake of the Bacha Khan University attack, security in schools across the country has been beefed up while mock security exercises were carried out in many others this past week.

Bacha Khan university, which opened on Monday after a terrorist assault that claimed 21 lives, itself was closed for an indefinite period due to security reasons.

Earlier on Monday, the Punjab government announced closure of all public and private schools in the province from Jan 26 to 31, citing "extremely cold weather" as the reason.

Punjab government's last-minute order also spilled over into Islamabad, where a number of private schools remained shut on Tuesday, while others sent students home and closed early.

Also on Tuesday, Karachi University postponed its annual convocation which was scheduled to be held on Jan 30 citing "security concerns" among other reasons.

Meanwhile, police is taking action against educational institutes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab for not complying with the advised security standards.

37 institutes in Sargodha given 3 days to improve security

Sargodha District Police Officer (DPO) Sajjad Hassan Manj on Wednesday issued notices to 37 public and private educational institutes over insufficient security arrangements.

The DPO directed the institutes to make foolproof security arrangements within three days, failing which strict action will be taken.

A police spokesman said notices were served to Government Girls Elementary School Ghangwal, Islamia Public School Ghangwal, Government Primary School Jhugian Sial, Primary School Mehmand Tulla, Punjab Grammar school Jhawarian, Government Middle School Kalra, Government High School Kalra and various other institutions in the district.