Education dept issues new school timings

IN VIEW Of hot and humid weather, the School Education Department (SED) Punjab has issued new school timings starting May 6 when campuses reopen after Eidul Fitr holidays.

The new timings would be from 7:15 am to 12:45pm from Monday to Thursday and Saturday for girls schools while 7:30 am to 1:00 pm from Monday to Thursday and Saturday for boys schools whereas for Fridays these timings would be 7:15 am to 11:15 am for girls schools and 7:30 am to 11:30 am for boys schools.

As per the notification, these timings would be applicable for all public and private schools. However, what has been observed over the years that such directions are not implemented in true spirit as far as private schools are concerned. And this is not just limited to school timings as many private school do not even follow academic session as announced by the government, hence there is no uniformity at all. This leads to problems for the students particularly those who have to transfer from private schools to public schools because of any reason.

The stakeholders have been critical of government’s inability to regulate affairs of the private schools and again this is not limited to fee structure alone. They want government’s regulatory role in affairs of private schools to keep them safe from exploitation in any manner. And this includes alternate arrangements by private schools in case of power outages during extreme hot days.

While parents have appreciated revised school timings in the wake of sizzling summer they have also demanded the Schools Department to ensure that new school timings as followed by private schools too as scorching heat was dangerous for kids.

The parents have also demanded the government control energy crisis as most schools, public and private, do have arrangements in place in case of power outages which put health of the kids at great risk.

Meanwhile, Secondary School Certificate (Matric) Annual Examinations 2022 are starting across all the nine Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education (BISEs) from May 10. These physical exams would continue till June and afterwards practical part of the exam will continue till mid July. The stakeholders including students, their parents and teachers have urged the government to address the power crisis at the earliest to ensure constant and uninterrupted electricity so that students could prepare well and appear in the exams without worries for electricity in extreme hot season ahead. Apart from that they also stress proper arrangements for students including provision of cold water and waiting areas for parents and guardians to drop and pick children at the exam centres.

The stakeholders have also urged the government to ensure uniformity during the upcoming summer vacation as many private schools do not follow the government’s schedule for summer break either.