Security of students, teachers priority: Punjab CM

54 schools, colleges sealed across Punjab

LAHORE/MULTAN/GUJRANWALA: Amid threats, security arrangements are being beefed up around the country to secure educational institutions, as 54 schools and colleges were sealed in different cities of the Punjab.

In Lahore, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said protection of students and teachers of private and public sector universities was a collective responsibility which will be discharged efficiently.

Addressing a meeting of vice-chancellors of public and private sectors universities of the province, which lasted for four hours, the chief minister said the Punjab government was spending billions of rupees on the promotion of education and security of students studying at different educational institutions was the top priority. Security arrangements for public and private universities were reviewed in detail and various proposals were presented in this regard.

The chief minister, on the occasion, said there would be no shortage of resources for security arrangements for teachers and students. He said the all-out cooperation and funds would be provided for security measures in universities. He announced setting up of a joint action committee for improving the security arrangements of universities.

He said that ministers, government officials and vice-chancellors concerned would be members of the committee and it would be completely autonomous in financial and administrative matters regarding security arrangements.

He said that the war against terrorism was aimed at survival of the country and the mindset of extremism and terrorism would have to be defeated. He said that the war against terrorism will also have to be fought on the ideological front with full force.

He said that there was a need to evolve a counter terrorism narrative and universities will have to play a leading role in this regard. Issuing instructions for setting up a committee for evolving a counter-terrorism narrative, he said that the committee wouldcomprise vice-chancellors of private and public sector universities, intellectuals and educationists. He said that setting up of a safe and peaceful society was the mission of every Pakistani and the all-out effort would have to be made for defeating the enemy.

He said that terrorists and their facilitators would be rooted out. He stressed the need for collective efforts for setting up a society which is based on tolerance and restraint as there was no room for extremism in the Pakistan of Quaid-e-Azam. He said that Operation Zarb-e-Azb had broken the back of terrorists; however, there was a need for promotion of sentiments of tolerance and restraint in the society.  

He said that universities would have to play an important role in checking the trend of intolerance. He directed the administration of all universities to ensure complete implementation of the security plan. He said that departments concerned and universities’ administration would have to work with effective coordination for improving security arrangements of universities. He said that an effective security audit was essential for checking security measures of all universities and professional approach will have to be adopted for this purpose.

Meanwhile, the City District Government Lahore (CDGL) has warned private schools of strict action if they fail to implement security SOPs. This was decided during a meeting which said the CDGL along with police were taking security arrangements in educational institutions and the institutions which had not yet taken security measures as per the government SOPs must complete it at the earliest.

On the other hand, police in Gojra sealed 16 schools for poor security measures, as the DSP said the schools would be reopened if the security arrangements were found better during rechecking on January 31.

Similarly, Pirmahal Assistant commissioner Hafiz Muhammad Najib sealed 12 government and primary schools for the same reasons. Four schools in Rajana and Toba were also sealed. In Gujranwala, the administration sealed three colleges and 15 schools, with another four in Pakpattan.

In Multan, the SHOs of all the 31 police stations were directed to ensure surveillance steps and security arrangements at schools located in their jurisdictions. According to police officials, the SHOs had been asked to register cases against school heads if they were not willing to meet security criteria. They have been directed to draw geographical maps, mention strength of security guards, prepare lists and indicate loopholes in security issues of schools situated in their areas.

In Karachi, a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah envisaged an elaborate scheme for security of no less than 15,000 schools in Karachi. Separately, the security of Karachi University had been beefed up with installation of walk through gates and the Rangers with the help of bomb disposal squad searching the campus.