KP govt extends summer vacation by 20 days

PESHAWAR: The government on Sunday announced a 20-day extension in the 10-day summer vacation in view of scorching heat and a possible break out of the fourth wave of coronavirus pandemic as the private schools continued to defy the government orders by forcing students to attend educational institutions.

According to separate notifications issued by the Elementary and Secondary Education Department and the Higher Education Department, summer vacations in all the government and private educational institutions shall be extended from July 12 to July 31.

The notification stated that the ongoing board exams would continue as per the schedule and the students and staff would strictly follow the coronavirus standard operating procedures.

Earlier, summer vacations had been announced at all the government and private educational institutions from July 1 to July 11 due to a rise in temperature.

Though the government schools were closed after the first notification, the management of private schools challenged the government writ and refused to shut the institutions despite extremely hot weather during all these days.

The defiance has caused grave unrest to the students and their parents.

The private schools management alleged that the government had given them the option to either continue classes or observe the summer vacations.

The official notification, however, had not mentioned any such choice. It clearly stated that all the government and private schools, colleges and universities shall remain closed during the period.

The government orders defiance by the big and small private schools left parents worried about the health of their kids.

The parents argued that the private schools which had refused to shut have no proper arrangements for dealing with the extreme heat as the temperature these days was unbearable and the students had been exposed to heatstroke. “Even fans are not available in most of the schools, let alone other cooling systems. In such a situation, they ask students to attend classes,” a parent, Roha Daneen, told The News.

The parents urged the government to force the private schools to at least obey its directives on closure.

They were highly critical of the Private Schools Regulatory Authority (PSRA) which they complained had become virtually dysfunctional during all these crises.

“Instead of regulating the private schools, the PSRA has become a mouthpiece of the private educational institutions. This authority is serving the interests of the private schools, which have become a mafia,” said Mohammad Zubair Yousaf.

Another parent told The News that the private schools had nothing to do with the studies and time waste of the students. “They are only concerned with their fees and the students have been called only for the collection of various charges”, he said.

The parents demanded the government to take notice of the situation and ensure the implementation of its orders.