Private schools insist on reopening from Monday

Karachi
Various private school associations on Friday announced their decision to reopen schools from August 3 instead of August 11, the date given by the Sindh government to start classes after summer vacation.
In a joint press conference held at the Karachi Press Club on Friday, Syed Khalid Shah, the provincial chairman of All Private Schools Management Association, Haider Ali, provincial chairman of PEAK Private Schools Management Association, and Shahzad Akhtar, the central president, claimed that schools registered with their respective associations would resume academic activities from August 3.
They said the Sindh government had made the decision to extend summer vacation for another week on account of heavy rains and floods, but there was no such threat in Karachi.
He said the associations had requested the government to exempt the educational institutions in the metropolis and reopen the schools according to the earlier schedule.
However, they claimed, the Sindh government did not entertain their request and imposed their decision without considering the ground realities. They said there were a number of districts in Sindh which were not affected by rain or floods and it didn’t make sense to extend summer vacations all over the province.
The leaders of private schools’ associations appealed to the chief minister to withdraw the notification for extending vacation in Karachi and other safe districts in Sindh.
They said the monsoon season stayed till September and in case the local government elections were held, schools will have to be closed once again till the polling process completes.
Meanwhile, the chairman of Private Schools Management Associations, Sharaf Uz Zaman, who could not attend the press conference, endorsed the decision of other associations and said schools associated with his organisation will also reopen on Monday.
“It takes three days to get full attendance in schools after summer or winter vacations, after which schools’ management engage students in Independence Day celebration programmes and most of the time till August 14 is spent in its preparation,” he said.
On the other hand, the Sindh education secretary Dr Fazlullah Pechuho warned that all private schools had to follow the government’s decision. He warned that the provincial government reserved a right to register a case against school managements if any child got injured or faced any other damage due to early opening of schools.
He warned the associations to follow the government’s decision, and in case of violations their registrations can be cancelled and they may be fined, or both.