Some Aitchisonians may not be back on time

LAHORE: Aitchison College has called back its boarding students today (August 15), a week before the school reopens after the summer vacations. Students from some of the flood-hit areas however may have difficulty in being on time.

Summer vacations at Aitchison College started on May 26. The school will resume classes from August 23 with boarding students required to report on August 15.

Parents and guardians of students from Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh and Rajanpur districts however worry that their children will not be able to make it to school on time.

Major roads leading to Lahore from these districts have been damaged because of the flood which might serve as an obstacle for the parents in reaching Lahore on the date given by the school.

Muhammad Aqeel who lives in Rajanpur district says that his nephew is a boarding student in the junior school of Aitchison College for two years. He said that floods have badly affected the district. “The floods have cut off our district from the rest of the country.” He says he has tried to contact the headmaster of the junior school to inform him about the situation and seek relaxation but has failed to get through to him.

He said that he also called the headmaster’s PA to ask if there was any chance to revise the date of the school reopening but he had no information about it.

He said that he was worried that this might create problems for the child and his parents. According to the junior school rules, parents are supposed to inform the administration in advance about the absence of their children. He said he was unable to inform the school because no one from the administration was answering the phone.

Mian Faisal from Muzaffargarh said that his cousin’s son is studying in the prep school of Aitchison College. He said their family was marooned in the flood waters near Rohilanwali. He said that the college administration should allow some necessary relaxation to students belonging to the flood-hit areas.

An Aitchison College teacher, who requested not to be mentioned by name, said that some students from Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and Sindh had contacted him for similar reasons.  According to the Aitchison College website, 350 pupils are out-station students from each of its three schools.

Principal Fakir Syed Ejazuddin was not available for his comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2010.