K-P schools under federal board closed till Jan 31

A statement issued by the ISPR on Wednesday confirmed APS will remain closed till January 29

PESHAWAR/CHARSADDA: Educational institutes under the federal board in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa will remain closed till January 31. Army Public Schools (APS) in the province will open after January 29 in view of the security situation.

A statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations on Wednesday confirmed APS will remain closed till January 29.



Usually, winter vacations in K-P start on December 23 and are over by December 31.

Nazim stands guard

In a rather unusual turn of events, Mardan district nazim Himayatullah Mayar and a group of men will stand with security guards at the entrance of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan.

This is part of Awami National Party’s initiative to appoint its own people at the gates of AWKUM to help ensure the security of students.

Asking for police help

Charsadda district nazim Fahad Riaz Khan has asked the police to ensure foolproof security at schools and universities in the district. This was said during a meeting held in Charsadda on Wednesday attended by principals of various schools and colleges in the district.

According to the district nazim, such attacks should be prevented at all costs and the police should ensure security arrangements are made at all educational institutions. “All private and government schools must install CCTV cameras, barbed wire on boundary walls, metal detectors and deploy security guards,” he said.



Fahad Riaz told police officials to check all such institutions and action should be taken against all those private schools that do not fulfil these requirements.

Izhar Khan, the acting Swabi DPO, organised a meeting on Wednesday, which was attended by representatives from government and private schools. He directed them to immediately introduce security measures.

Blame game

However, the Peshawar police’s decision to register cases against heads and teachers of students has drawn the ire of teachers. All Primary Teachers Association (APTA) K-P President Malik Khalid Khan condemned FIRs registered against teachers, saying it is the government’s responsibility to provide security to educational institutes.

“Teachers are expected to teach, not protect students from terrorist attacks,” he told The Express Tribune on Wednesday.

According to Malik Khalid, the police registered FIRs against over 200 schools in Peshawar district.



“This is a form of injustice,” he said. “The government has failed to release funds to ensure security at schools and is simply pressuring teachers to make these arrangements.”

He added, “Teachers cannot purchase CCTV cameras and construct boundary walls from their own pockets.” According to the APTA president, a majority of primary schoolteachers can barely make ends meet.

“Police have harassed teachers and pressurised them,” he said. “Some of them have been compelled to borrow money to improve security.” He warned if the police do not stop harassing teachers, they would be forced to take to the streets.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th,  2016.