KARACHI, April 12: All government and private educational institutions, including schools, colleges and universities, in the province will remain closed till April 14, it was learnt officially.

The Sindh Secretary Education, Syed Ghulam Ali Pasha, said on Wednesday that schools and colleges in the province would remain closed for another two days till April 14 in the wake of the tragic incident that occurred in Nishtar Park on Tuesday night.

Following the blast incident, which claimed 47 lives and injuring many more, all educational institutions, under a decision of the Sindh government, remained closed on Wednesday in the city. Some universities also postponed their examinations scheduled for the day.

Talking to Dawn, the secretary education said the directive for closure of institutions for another two days would be applicable to all government and private schools and colleges in the province.

The Controller of Examinations at the University of Karachi, Syed Anwer Zaidi, said exams of MBBS and Physiotherapy were postponed in the wake of the government’s decision to keep the educational institutions closed on Wednesday.

Irrespective of the fact whether the university was closed further or not, it had already been decided that university would not hold any exams on April 13 and 14, he added, saying that new dates for the postponed papers would be announced later.

The Principal of the Dow Medical College, Dr Salahuddin Afsar, said the ongoing practical exams of 4th year MBBS had been stopped due to the prevailing situation. Practical exams scheduled for April 12 at the DMC and the SMC were not held, while those scheduled for April 13 and 14 have also been postponed, he said.

Public and private universities and higher education institutions, including the NED, IBA, SSUET and the DUHS remained closed on Wednesday.

However, in the absence of written instructions, authorities at government-run higher education institutions were unclear about the working of their institutions on April 13 and 14.

When contacted, a Governor’s House official said an earlier announcement by the governor about closure of educational institutions was valid in the case of varsities as well. Universities will remain closed on April 13 as well, while the situation will be reviewed again on Thursday.