School closures halt academic progress

Smog, harsh weather and political unrest have significantly impacted the smooth functioning of educational institution

LAHORE:

In 2024, the academic session in schools and colleges across the province has been severely impacted by various factors, including political turmoil, climate change, and smog, which have together significantly reduced the number of days schools were able to hold in-person classes.

According to information obtained by The Express Tribune, out of 262 days in the academic year, schools were only able to hold classes for 118 days. In the new academic year, which began on April 1, the government declared Saturday as a holiday, which meant that classes were held in government schools for only five days a week.

Following this, a week-long holiday was announced in schools due to heatwaves in May, causing schools to remain closed from May 25 to 31. The summer holidays then took place from June 1 to August 14, resulting in a total of 75 days where educational activities could not be held in schools.

Later, in September, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) called for a protest, which led to a deterioration in the law-and-order situation, causing routes to be blocked and educational activities to be closed for five days.

As the smog season began, holidays were given to educational institutions for 13 days when the air quality index (AQI) exceeded 1,000. Schools were closed from November 7 to November 19 when the government imposed a green lockdown due to smog. Furthermore, schools were also closed for four days due to road closures when the PTI called for another rally on September 17, 2024.

Additionally, schools remained closed on Muharram, Independence Day, and other national days due to gazetted holidays. Holidays were also given to schools in Lahore and other districts due to the PTI's protest call on November 24, resulting in schools being closed for more than five days due to road closures and the law-and-order situation.

Now, due to cold, smog, and fog in Lahore, holidays have been declared in schools from December 23, 2024 to January 10, 2024. All these factors have contributed to a record number of holidays in the academic session in Punjab, making it challenging to complete the curriculum.

"Whenever there is uncertainty in the law-and-order situation, the first step is to close schools. Although students from private schools can move to online classes, those in government schools do not have the equipment to study online. Hence, due to the gap in digital literacy, many children have been left behind in academics," said Dr Shaheer Ahmed Sheikh, an educationist.

The Education Department informed The Express Tribune that students of classes 9 and 10 have to appear for board papers. These students are being specially taught the remaining syllabus under a zero-period arrangement, allowing them to easily appear for board papers. Furthermore, classes are being extended in many schools on Saturday holidays to make up for the lost time. However, in contrast to this situation, the Education Department has not made any comprehensive plan to teach the complete syllabus to the children during the academic year.