Suspension of school registration: It’s not too late to say sorry

46 schools, colleges appeal to education department

KARACHI: A total of 46 schools and colleges whose registration was suspended on Saturday by the Sindh education and literacy department's directorate of private schools are still submitting explanations to the department despite the lapse of the two-day explanation period. However, the department is still accepting explanations from the educational institutes.

As per a notification issued by the provincial government, all schools in Sindh were to close on Friday, May 20, for summer vacations due to the ongoing heatwave and the schools that failed to do so had their registration suspended. The schools were given two days to submit an explanation for their actions.

"We are receiving feedback and even calls from different schools explaining why they were open on Friday," said the department's director of private schools, Mansoob Hussain Siddiqui. He also denied claims that schools that were closed on Friday received suspension letters. "We have only suspended the registration of those institutes which were open, despite the education department order to close schools following the heatwave in the province," he explained.

The teams visited the schools and then the letters were dispatched to them, he said. "I dispatched all the letters myself via TCS, how can [a school] not have received it yet?" he asked, in reply to claims that some schools had not received suspension letters as yet.

Siddiqui said the problem of suspension will be resolved soon as the cases are being forwarded to education secretary Fazlullah Pechuho. "If the reason is valid for opening schools on Friday then the secretary will reverse the suspension orders," he said.

Haque Academy in DHA Phase VIII was among the 46 schools mentioned on the list. Its administration director, Shanul Haque, told The Express Tribune that their institute was closed on Friday and was scheduled to close on the given date six months prior according to their academic calendar. "The academic calendar of our institute was updated in January 2016 and said the school will be closed by Thursday, May 19," he said.

He added that he has not received any letter of suspension, email or even a call from the education department or directorate. He also said no team visited his school or any other school nearby. "If they did not visit [us] then how can they suspend us?" he questioned.

Private Schools Management Association's (PSMA) chairperson Sharafuz Zaman told The Express Tribune that he had a meeting with officials at the directorate of private schools and has appealed to them to reconsider the decision to suspend the schools' registration. "Ordering the closure of schools in one day for summer vacation holidays was not possible," said Zaman, justifying that they had to keep schools open on Friday to hand over summer vacation homework to students.

The PSMA chairperson also said that he has asked the department not to take action against certain schools as 90% of private schools in Karachi, Mirpurkhas and Sukkur were open on Friday. "I will reply to the directorate on behalf of all the schools, which come under my association and have been issued suspension letters, collectively," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 24^th, 2016.