Thin attendance as schools reopen

Islamabad:The private schools and colleges of Islamabad Capital Territory re-opened on Monday after two weeks of winter break.

However, thin attendance was reported due to intense cold and rainfall amid calls for extension in the winter vacation for at least one week. The local educational institutions functioning in both public and private sectors had closed their campuses on December 23 for winter break.

The government schools and colleges overseen by the Federal Directorate of Education reopened on last Wednesday (January 1). As the private educational institutions resumed classes on Monday as directed by their regulator, PEIRA, most parents didn’t allow children to step out due to low temperature and rainfall.

The weather remained overcast all through the day though it rained intermittently. The parents said they couldn’t risk the health of their children by sending them to schools most of which didn’t have heating systems to offset the impact of the prevailing intense cold.

They wondered if the schools and colleges in the adjoining Rawalpindi city have been told by the Punjab education department to keep campuses closed until January 13 due to the severe cold, why the authorities regulating Islamabad’s educational institutions couldn’t follow suit for the sake of the children’s health. The parents demanded the closure of schools and colleges until the current cold wave eased.