PHOTO: AFP
NOWSHERA/ MINGORA/ PESHAWAR:
Schools in the province which were closed post Bacha Khan University attack will reopen on Monday (today). However, security concerns remain a pressing issue with threat alerts and with FIRs against over 600 government and private schools for poor arrangements.
Private Schools Association President Aqeel Razzaq told The Express Tribune all private schools will be open and most of them followed the standard operating procedures laid out by the government. Razzaq said private school owners met the deputy commissioner and CCPO of the provincial capital on Saturday and took decisions over school security.
APS on repeat
“It was decided all private schools will install CCTV cameras, raise boundary walls to 14 feet and appoint security guards.” He added prominent schools would also have walkthrough gates at the main entrance. “All the educational institutes have agreed over it and no extra fees would be demanded from students for these arrangements.”
The district administration registered FIRs against over 200 private and 400 government educational institutes across the province, a process which is still continuing.
Malakand Region DIG Azad Khan said cases have been filed against over 219 schools in Malakand Division, including Swat, for showing carelessness in security. Over 3,000 schools have been checked in the area since the BKU attack.
Politicking in tense times
“Private schools were closed because the Punjab government made similar announcements,” a senior official in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa education department told The Express Tribune. “But in spite of threats we managed to keep [most government] schools in K-P open.”
He added there was uncertainty over the final decision of schools staying closed after the BKU attack because the K-P Elementary and Secondary Minister for Education Muhammad Atif was not in Pakistan at the time and officials remained unsure how to proceed over the issue.
All Primary Teachers Association K-P President Malik Khalid Khan appreciated the government for keeping schools open. “This is not the solution, that we close educational institutes and waste precious time of our children.”
However, he condemned the registration of FIRs against educational institutes’ heads and demanded they be nullified. “The K-P government promised 100% security and basic facilities at schools, but so far hundreds of schools are without boundary walls.”
With vigilance
On the recommendation of Peshawar University Teachers Association, the administration of University of Peshawar has banned all private vehicles from entering the campus.
UoP Akhtar Amin told The Express Tribune private vehicles would not be allowed to stand on the road or allowed to drive to the departments inside the university premises. He added all colleges inside the university have a campus coordination committee head who will look after the security and monitor all security guards at the premises.
Amin said high-quality weapons have also been purchased for security guards.
Amid threats
After the attack, threats were issued to several institutes but authorities remained unsure whether to keep the schools open or close. Earlier, an education department official had said an unspecified threat had been issued to the educational institutes and other government installations on January 26. A school in Sheikhan had also received a threat in the form of letter, the authenticity of which was not verified.
K-P Elementary and Secondary Education Director Rafique Khattak denied any threats or letters of such nature. He added they did not close any schools across the province.
About missing facilities, he said majority of the schools have boundary walls. “There are only a few in rural areas that do not have boundary walls.”
Nowshera DC Iftikhar Alam has constituted 15 teams to monitor the security of schools and universities in a bid to ensure foolproof security for educational institutes. A news conference was held at Nowshera Press Club regarding the security situation of said institutes on Sunday.
The teams will observe 15 schools, colleges and universities on a daily basis.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 1st, 2016.
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