ISLAMABAD: Private and public schools in the twin cities will open today (Monday).

The Private Schools Association, which represents upscale schools in Islamabad’s urban areas, decided on Sunday to reopen schools from Monday.

The schools had closed because of uncertainty in the wake of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Azadi March, which is being held on Kashmir Highway.

“All private schools functioning in the Islamabad urban area will reopen on Monday. However, the schools in the protest affected area can take their own decision as per the requirement of the situation,” a notification issued by the association’s president, Zofran Elahi, said.

Information Secretary Abdul Waheed confirmed that all schools have decided to reopen on Monday.

“We decided to reopen schools after a meeting today. However, on Monday school owners and heads can make their own decision in case of any disturbance,” he said.

“Since all the schools in the urban areas had been closed on our call, we can say that after our new decision all schools in the city will be reopened,” he added.

Schools under the Federal Directorate of Education will remain open, as they were on Thursday and Friday when private schools were closed.

Quaid-i-Azam University has also announced that it will reopen on Monday, as well as most universities that had announced a two-day closure on Wednesday. Comsats has said that there will not be any educational activities at the university on Monday.

Rawalpindi

The district administration has asked private and public educational institutions in the revenue limits of Rawalpindi districts to open from Monday.

Educational institutions were closed in the city because of the march on Thursday, but reopened on Friday. The deputy commissioner said that no institution will be closed Monday onwards.

However, the metro bus service between Rawalpindi and Islamabad will remain suspended until further orders. The buses have been parked at the Punjab Masstransit Authority’s control and command office in Saddar.

A senior official from the authority said the metro bus depot at Peshawar Mor was sealed because of the march and will remain shut for its duration. He said they will need a little time to resume service once the depot is handed over to them.

Commuters between the twin cities have faced problems because of the suspension of the service and lack of other forms of public transport.

Many people have had to turn to private taxis to reach their offices.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2019