ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI: Due to the prevailing situation in the twin cities, educational institutions in Rawalpindi and Islamabad will remain closed on Thursday (today).

The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), which supervises all 423 schools and colleges, extended holiday for one more day on Wednesday. Similarly, Private Schools Association also announced that institutions in the urban areas would remain closed.

“We have decided to keep schools closed on Thursday, however, if the situation remains uncertain, we can go online for the time being from Friday,” said Abdul Waheed Khan, a spokesperson for private schools.

Almost all universities are already closed due to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI)long march.

In Rawalpindi, Deputy Commissioner Tahir Farooq issued a notification, saying that a public holiday had been declared on Thursday due to the prevailing situation in and around the revenue limits of the district.

The district administration had already closed education institutions on Wednesday while the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Rawalpindi had cancelled the Pakistan Studies paper.

Meanwhile BISE Rawalpindi also cancelled papers of SSC Part-I exam scheduled for Thursday. They are Persian, geometrical and technical drawing and military sciences for morning and civics, geometrical commercial and Al Quran (Darsi Nizami) for the evening session.

BISE spokesman Arslan Cheema said a new schedule for these papers would be announced later.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2022