Sindh

School managements demand extension in holidays

Students are getting sick due to the sudden surge in the cold and many of them will not be able to attend school

Our Correspondent January 15, 2017

A file photo of students. PHOTO: REUTERS

KARACHI: The Private Schools Management Association (PSMA) has written a letter to the education department requesting an extension in holidays due to the drop in temperature in the province following the recent spell of winter rain.

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The letter sent by the PSMA states that the two-day continuous rains have increased the intensity of coldness. PSMA chairperson Sharafuz Zaman told The Express Tribune that there is a high chance that residents of the city will suffer from several illnesses due to the piles of garbage and choked sewerage lines. Students are getting sick due to the sudden surge in the cold and many of them will not be able to attend school, said Zaman.

Other than school associations, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Khurram Sher Zaman has moved a resolution in the Sindh Assembly to announce school holidays as it is difficult for children to go to schools in this weather.

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The resolution states that the education minister should take appropriate action to announce two-week vacations in all the schools in Karachi.

"Taking in consideration the changing weather if not two weeks, then at least a week or a 10-day vacation should be given," he said.On the other hand, education minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar remarked that the temperature increased on Sunday and will continue to increase, therefore there is no need for vacations.

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The same children who were soaking in the rain without their sweaters are now having problems attending school, he claimed. He also pointed out that the government and steering committee should consider the changes in the schedule of vacations as winters in Karachi arrive in January, not December. The matter of changing the schedule of vacations will be put forward in the upcoming steering committee meeting, which will be held by the end of January, said the PSMA chairperson. There is a need to change the schedule of vacations in both the summer and winter as May is comparatively hotter than June or July, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2017.