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.