LAHORE: The Punjab Higher Education Department has announced that the educational institutes around The Mall will remain closed today (Wednesday) due to a protest by the opposition parties over Model Town killings.

The opposition parties have blocked The Mall from Regal Chowk to the GPO from both sides and placed a container at Charing Cross.

In order to avert any untoward incident in the wake of sit-in from a party on The Mall, three institutions, namely Government College University, University of the Punjab (Old Campus) and National College of Arts, would remain closed, said a notification.

The district education officer announced the closure of six public schools, namely Govt Boys High School Governor House, Govt Girls High School Governor House, Govt Islamia High School Khazana Gate, Govt Fatima Girls High School Fane Road, Govt Girls High School Napier Road and Govt Girls High School Shahrah-i-Aiwan-i-Tijarat.

The All Private Schools Management Association also announced closure of the private schools around The Mall. Provincial president of the association, Chaudhry Wahid, said they had announced holiday in the area schools due to the protest. He said they would announce further plan regarding closure in the evening of Jan 17.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2018