Schools’ security: Govt given three weeks to submit compliance report

SHC chief justice displeased at govt failure to implement court directives

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court took on Tuesday serious notice of the provincial authorities' failure in submitting a report on compliance of the court's directives for providing security at educational institutes across the province.

Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, who headed the two-judge bench, directed the provincial law officer to submit the report by September 8.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by the Pakistan Institute of Labor Education and Research, the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum and human rights activist Javed Iqbal Burki seeking direction for the provincial government to provide foolproof security at educational institutes after the Army Public School, Peshawar attack in 2014.



In May last year, the court had ordered the education and home secretaries to conduct a survey to pinpoint vulnerable schools and take measures for their adequate security.

Later, on August 27, the education secretary had filed a compliance report on behalf of the chief secretary, saying that 8,417 educational institutes had been identified as sensitive.

He had further informed that a PC-I was prepared for undertaking security measures, including raising the height of the boundary walls, at an estimated cost of over Rs7 billion.

According to the report, it was also decided that the home department will issue arms licenses to the educational institutes for their security guards, while it was also proposed to launch an SMS alert service to intimate children and their parents in case of any crisis situation.

Filing another report, the special education secretary had on October 5, 2015 informed the court that the survey to identify the schools had been completed in 18 districts of the province. He had also informed that the government had provided funds worth Rs7,636 million for security measures at these schools. The court had directed the provincial government to ensure that foolproof security is provided at the educational institutes after the disbursement of funds and a report on compliance of this order should be filed to the court.

However, during Tuesday's proceedings, the government law officer requested time to submit the complete compliance report and place it on the court's record for the judges' perusal.

The bench members took serious exception to the failure of the authorities in implementing the court's directives and over the non-submission of the compliance report.

The chief justice observed that the security situation is becoming more complex every day and the government has been clearly directed to submit its reports on improvement of the educational institutes' security situation.

He further observed that the ignorance on the part of the government with regard to the implementation of the court's directives does not make any sense.

Therefore, allowing time till September 8, the bench directed the law officer to submit the compliance report by the next hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2016.