Open and shut case
In the aftermath of the Charsadda attack, the government is asking for schools to “beef-up” their security
The writer is Editor of The Express Tribune
The All-Pakistan Private Schools Federation (APPSF) has announced that private schools would reopen across Punjab only if the provincial government met two key demands by the association.
The conditional offer came after meeting with Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood. APPSF president Kashif Mirza said his association had asked the government of Punjab to withdraw all the FIRs against private school owners and provide security to all private schools across the province.
In the aftermath of the Charsadda attack, what we are seeing is that the government is asking for schools to “beef-up” their security and introduce “fool-proof” measures. In my opinion, both these phrases need to be banned.
What we need to ask here is as follows: who is responsible for the safety of schools given the attacks threatened by militants?
Public and private schools were scheduled to reopen on Monday after the Punjab government had announced their closure from Jan 26 to 31 due to extreme cold weather. The real reason was that there was an air of panic, fuelled by the media, and that many parents were simply not prepared to send children to schools. And the panic was not restricted to Punjab only.
In response to this genuine fear of parents and teachers alike, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar stated that he had requested government bodies to not close schools due to “minor security concerns”, because terrorists desired to spread panic such as this. Our interior minister noted that all institutions cannot be closed for security reasons. But, this is exactly what the provincial governments have been doing over the past week. They have been active in reviewing security at schools and lodging FIRs against those they deem to be errant institutions.
Take, for example, the action in a remote place like Gojra, here a DSP sealed 16 schools for what he saw as poor security arrangements. The DSP said, these schools would be reopened if the security arrangements were improved after rechecking on January 31. One wonders on whose orders was he acting. Possibly under the much-talked, National Action Plan.
Not to be outdone, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police lodged 35 FIRs against various institutions in Peshawar just two days after the Charsadda attack. They claimed they were acting under the NAP. They registered FIRs against 32 schools, two non-governmental organisations and a National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) sub-office for inadequate security measures.
School administrations say that they are responsible for provision of education. They cannot be expected to, nor do they have the resources to provide the level of security being demanded by the government. The state is responsible for the safety and security of its citizens. It cannot pass on the entire responsibility for security to educational institutions.
The media has reported that private schools and their 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 register FIRs against school heads and owners. Their demands vary from case to case and are not based on any consistent written guidelines.
In the Punjab and K-P, the provincial government has shifted the entire onus of security on schools. As a result, an environment of confusion, uncertainty and fear has been created. The Punjab education minister has said, his government is striving to introduce a strategy for the security of private schools and a committee has been set-up for its implementation. This is not the first time this has been done.
In a separate development, the investigation team probing the attack on Charsadda’s Bacha Khan University has recommended the government to launch an inquiry against the varsity’s vice-chancellor and security In-charge. The report pointed out serious flaws in the security arrangements of the educational facility. Closed circuit television cameras were not working and no proper arrangements were made for monitoring at the varsity. The VC of the university did not call any meeting despite instructions of the government whereas the security in-charge Ashfaq Ahmad also did not fulfill his responsibility. One wonders where the police and our law enforcement authorities are in all this.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 1st, 2016.
The conditional offer came after meeting with Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood. APPSF president Kashif Mirza said his association had asked the government of Punjab to withdraw all the FIRs against private school owners and provide security to all private schools across the province.
In the aftermath of the Charsadda attack, what we are seeing is that the government is asking for schools to “beef-up” their security and introduce “fool-proof” measures. In my opinion, both these phrases need to be banned.
What we need to ask here is as follows: who is responsible for the safety of schools given the attacks threatened by militants?
Public and private schools were scheduled to reopen on Monday after the Punjab government had announced their closure from Jan 26 to 31 due to extreme cold weather. The real reason was that there was an air of panic, fuelled by the media, and that many parents were simply not prepared to send children to schools. And the panic was not restricted to Punjab only.
In response to this genuine fear of parents and teachers alike, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar stated that he had requested government bodies to not close schools due to “minor security concerns”, because terrorists desired to spread panic such as this. Our interior minister noted that all institutions cannot be closed for security reasons. But, this is exactly what the provincial governments have been doing over the past week. They have been active in reviewing security at schools and lodging FIRs against those they deem to be errant institutions.
Take, for example, the action in a remote place like Gojra, here a DSP sealed 16 schools for what he saw as poor security arrangements. The DSP said, these schools would be reopened if the security arrangements were improved after rechecking on January 31. One wonders on whose orders was he acting. Possibly under the much-talked, National Action Plan.
Not to be outdone, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police lodged 35 FIRs against various institutions in Peshawar just two days after the Charsadda attack. They claimed they were acting under the NAP. They registered FIRs against 32 schools, two non-governmental organisations and a National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) sub-office for inadequate security measures.
School administrations say that they are responsible for provision of education. They cannot be expected to, nor do they have the resources to provide the level of security being demanded by the government. The state is responsible for the safety and security of its citizens. It cannot pass on the entire responsibility for security to educational institutions.
The media has reported that private schools and their 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 register FIRs against school heads and owners. Their demands vary from case to case and are not based on any consistent written guidelines.
In the Punjab and K-P, the provincial government has shifted the entire onus of security on schools. As a result, an environment of confusion, uncertainty and fear has been created. The Punjab education minister has said, his government is striving to introduce a strategy for the security of private schools and a committee has been set-up for its implementation. This is not the first time this has been done.
In a separate development, the investigation team probing the attack on Charsadda’s Bacha Khan University has recommended the government to launch an inquiry against the varsity’s vice-chancellor and security In-charge. The report pointed out serious flaws in the security arrangements of the educational facility. Closed circuit television cameras were not working and no proper arrangements were made for monitoring at the varsity. The VC of the university did not call any meeting despite instructions of the government whereas the security in-charge Ashfaq Ahmad also did not fulfill his responsibility. One wonders where the police and our law enforcement authorities are in all this.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 1st, 2016.