FDE decision on Saturday working day draws flak

Islamabad : The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) has declared Saturday as a working day for the public sector educational institutions it regulates in Islamabad Capital Territory.

The FDE declared a six days work week amid the COVID-19 surge when the ICT administration imposed a smart lockdown in various sectors and restricted the movement of residents in 27 streets in different sectors due to a COVID-19 spike and higher positivity ratio.

The teachers said the most paradoxical thing was that the controlling office, FDE, was closed on Saturdays.

A teacher at the Islamabad Model Postgraduate College told 'The News' that though the monsoon arrival had provided relief to the people from hot and humid weather, infectious diseases were spreading.

"Our two teachers have so far got infected with COVID-19. The FDE's decision regarding a six days work week seems arbitrary,” he said.

Zafar Iqbal, a parent, who works at the Pak Secretariat, said he had to plough the city all day to drop off at and pick up his three children from schools located in different sectors.

"The FDE decision is going to soil my holiday," he said.

A representative of the Federal Government College Teachers Association also rejected the FDE decision as arbitrary and counter-productive. He said teachers were under sheer stress and risk of exposure to the deadly disease and they should be allowed to re-charge for two weekly holidays to better perform on 5 work days.