Power cuts bring education offices to a standstill

Prolonged power outages have brought key Sindh education offices to a standstill, disrupting official work, online systems and public services for nearly three weeks despite officials claiming that all electricity dues have been cleared and repeated complaints lodged with K-Electric.

The disruption has affected the offices of the Directorate General Colleges Sindh, Regional Directorate Government Colleges Sindh, Directorate General Private Institutions Sindh and Regional Directorate Private Schools Karachi, where daily operations have been severely hampered due to hours-long load-shedding during office timings.

Officials said the absence of electricity has crippled computer systems, internet connectivity and printing facilities, affecting online registration of private schools, issuance of computerised certificates, complaint handling and matters related to admissions in government colleges.

The worst-affected office is the Directorate of Inspection and Registration of Private Institutions located on Burns Road, where staff members have been struggling to continue routine operations amid repeated power cuts.

According to officials, electricity remains unavailable from around 11am to 2pm daily, while another outage occurs after 4pm. As a result, during official working hours of eight hours, electricity is available for only three to four hours, leaving most administrative tasks pending.

Deputy Director Inspections said the prolonged outages were having the greatest impact on modern online office systems. He said computer, internet and printing facilities become unavailable during power cuts, preventing officials from completing routine government services.

He added that all electricity bills had been paid, yet lengthy outages continued during office hours. Despite repeated contacts with the relevant authorities and formal letters sent to K-Electric, no effective measures had been taken so far.

Officials of Colleges Sindh also said ongoing admission-related activities in government colleges across the province were being affected due to the disruption.

A large number of teachers, students, parents, principals, school owners and other visitors approach these offices daily for admissions, registrations, complaints and other official matters. However, due to power failures, many are forced to wait for hours and often return without their work being completed.

Officials said the problem had affected all three floors of the building. During outages, the absence of air-conditioning and fans creates severe heat and suffocation in small offices, forcing officers and employees to sit outside with chairs while continuing their work.

They demanded immediate action to ensure uninterrupted power supply during office hours and resolution of technical issues, including transformer-related problems, so that government operations and public services could return to normal.

K-Electric's spokesperson was contacted for a response regarding the issue but did not provide any reply.