The chaos have finally ended as the Education Minister Rana Mashood in meeting with the private schools delegation have set a organized structure to deal with the terrorism threats to the schools of Punjab.
Here it should be mentioned that all the schools of Punjab were called off late on Monday, the authorities at that time told that the action of unusual holidays was taken due to the cold wave and fog throughout the province. According to the circular, all the schools of province, including Government and private were ordered to close their schools from 26-31 January.
The sources at that time also buzzed that this initiative was kicked off by the authorities due to the terrorist threat over these educational institutes.
The attack on Bacha Khan University also left student in deep shock and directly affected the attendance of the institutes. To make sure the security measurements, different search operations are carried in the province and the latest meeting of Education Minister with stakeholders unveils that its favorable to reopen the schools per their daily routine.
Earlier, when authorities asked to close the school from 26-31 January, many of the schools decided to change the classes timing and carried on their educational activities. The authorities took severe action against such institutes and also heavily find them.
Sources also told that, according to the previous order of authorities regarding maintenance of security by the private institutes, many of the schools were also fined for not maintaining a proper security.
Over this all situation, All-Pakistan Private School Federation decided not to open the schools from February 1 as they were having several concerns over the governments order. Here are the detailed reasons of All-Pakistan Private School Federation over not opening the schools from tomorrow:
1) The entire onus of security has been shifted by the Punjab Government onto schools;
2) Schools were closed by the Punjab Government on the midnight of Monday 25 January on the pretext of cold weather;
3) An environment of confusion, uncertainty and fear has been created in the Punjab. There is all-round speculation as to whether schools were genuinely closed due to adverse weather or whether there was a security threat that prompted closure;
4) Private schools and their heads and owners are being persistently harassed and intimidated by various government departments and law enforcement agencies. Individuals from various government departments, many with no security background, have been threatening to seal schools and issue FIRs against school heads and owners. Their demands vary from case to case and are not based on any consistent written guidelines.
5) Private schools are already in compliance with the written security guidelines that were issued in December 2014. Additional requirements, mostly verbal, are now being imposed in an ad hoc and unlawful manner.
6) As per the Constitution of Pakistan, the security of all citizens is the responsibility of the state.
7) Private schools are responsible for the provision of education. They cannot be expected to, nor do they have the resources to provide the level of security that is being demanded by the government.
Although, the deadlock between All-Pakistan Private School Federation and government have ended today after both of them sat in a meeting, which become fruitful in this regard.
