Election leave: Private schools object to May 8-13 closure

Say students already lagging behind schedule due to various holidays.

LAHORE:

Private schools have indicated that they will stay closed for two extra days during the elections and not for five extra days as mandated by the provincial government.

The Schools Education Department issued a notification on Monday stating that all schools in the province shall be closed from May 8 (Wednesday) to May 13 (Monday) in view of the elections on May 11.

But a representative of the All Pakistan Private School Managements Association (APPSMA) told The Express Tribune that private schools would be closed from May 10 (Friday) to May 12 (Sunday) only.

Private schools do not need to remain closed for an extended holiday, unlike government schools, said Adeeb Jawdani, central president of the APPSMA.”

“Students are already far behind in their studies because of various unscheduled holidays and we cannot risk their academic progress,” he said. Closing for almost a week would be a waste of time, he added.

The Schools Education Department notification states that all teachers and non-teaching staff assigned polling duties by the Election Commission of Pakistan must be present at their designated polling stations. All reserve polling staff must also remain available at their designated posting areas. Staff not detailed as polling staff or reserve staff should be available at their schools from May 8 to May 13, in case of a shortage of staff performing polling duties.

Schools Education Deputy Secretary Qaiser Rasheed said that government schools would be closed as most teachers would be engaged with polling duties. He said that the notification had been issued in compliance with the Punjab government’s orders. He said that the decision was made by Chief Minister Najam Sethi and then communicated to the department.

The Punjab University later confirmed that it would be closed from May 8 to 13 and its staff would be on election duty.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2013.