School security

The Punjab Ministry of Education probably needs to read the weather forecast. It is true that Lahore and the rest of the province was going through a cold spell – although one that is hardly unexpected – when the provincial education minister announced that schools across the province would be shut for five days, especially since gas shortages meant children would not have adequate heating in school. But it is equally true that the forecast predicted an almost immediate end to the cold wave. Let us for the moment assume that the minister was above board in his reasoning for the closure. The minister is admitting that the government is unable to fulfil its basic constitutional duty of ensuring an education for every child because the weather is a few degrees below what it normally is. Even in Washington DC, a freak snowstorm has caused the closure of schools. But there it was an act of Mother Nature. Here, gas loadshedding is an indictment of our government’s inability to provide even routine services. There is, however, more than sufficient reason to doubt the minister’s story. The acute gas shortages have meant homes are no better at providing a respite from the cold than schools so this reason can be dismissed almost immediately. The reason for the closure, it is safe to assume, is political rather than meteorological.

Soon after the militant attack on the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, the TTP announced that it would be targeting more schools. The Punjab government had also responded to the December 16, 2014 Army Public School attack by shutting down its schools for two months. If security is indeed the reason for this unexpected closure, we are not in a position to know if the decision is a wise one, not being privy to any intelligence on the matter. What is unacceptable is for the provincial government to keep the rest of us in the dark. If schools are going to be the new frontline in the war against militancy, the country needs to know. Already, teachers at the Bacha Khan University are demanding they be allowed to carry arms and the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has suggested to arm the teachers. The downsides to arming civilians are many and such policies can only be approved or shot down after a thorough public debate. By denying us the rationale behind its decisions, the Punjab government has excluded us from this debate. Now, parents who are in the dark will be fearful of sending their children back to school even when the mercury rises.