‘Summer vacations to commence from May 17’

All schools bound to follow schedule for summer break, says minister

LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to start the summer vacations for all public and private schools of the province from May 17, due to the holy month of Ramazan.

This was announced by Punjab School Education Minister Rana Mashhood at a press conference on Thursday.

"For the past two years, schools were closed down for the summer from June 1. It was planned that the summer vacations will start as per the previous schedule. However, as the start of the month of fasting is expected to start from May 17, it has been decided that the summer vacations will start from May 17 and will end on August 10."



The minister said that the decision was taken in a meeting and a notification to the same effect would be issued soon. He said that all schools in the province, including the private schools, were bound to follow the schedule for the summer vacations. "The schools that are administering examinations will be asked to conclude them soon and otherwise no exemption will be given."

The government schoolteachers have welcomed the decision and Punjab Teachers Union (PTU) issued a statement saying that it was the right decision and they appreciate it.

Meanwhile, All Pakistan Private Schools Federation (APPSF) President Kashif Mirza told The Express Tribune that private schools would remain closed from June 10 to August 10 for summer vacations in Punjab.



He said that the Punjab government, under Punjab School Education Department (SED) Secretary Dr Allah Bakhsh Malik, agreed to the schedule. "We arranged examinations because of the agreement, however, now the government has come out and announced this new schedule for summer vacations," he said.

Private schools fee

Mashhood also spoke about the ongoing issue faced by parents due to the increase in private school fee. He said, "We are being contacted by parents who are referring to a Sindh High Court judgment, supposedly barring schools from increasing fee. After checking, we have confirmed that no such judgment has been issued. In Punjab, however, there are regulations barring schools from collecting fee during summer vacations [3 months] all at once. Schools can collect fee once a month as per the law."

He said that the Punjab government would not let parents be burdened with 3-month fee and schools would have to comply with the directive. He said that the SED would take action against any school which violated the directions.

Speaking about arrangements of summer camps by private schools, the minister said that schools were allowed to hold camps for their students. However, he said that they would not be allowed to charge a fee for the camps from parents. He said that the Punjab government appreciates the contributions made by the private sector for education, but every private school would have to abide by the laws.

To a question of halting transfers of government schoolteachers, Mashhood said that the transfers were stopped because of the instructions of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). He said the ECP had lifted the ban on transfers and the transfer process for schoolteachers would be completed by May 30. Instructions had been issued to the same effect, he added.

Answering another question on missing facilities in public schools, he said that Punjab had provided all facilities, including drinking water and toilets. He said that recently, the ECP also acknowledged this fact when it pointed out missing facilities in schools, where polling stations were being set up throughout the country. Out of the total 48,000 schools where polling stations would be setup in Punjab, only 30 schools had some facilities missing, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2018.