Afternoon school timings disturbed

Decision of Sindh Education Foundation to increase morning school hours has disturbed the afternoon shifts.

KARACHI: The decision of the Sindh Education Foundation’s steering committee to increase morning school hours has disturbed the afternoon shifts.

On Friday, the committee had announced an hour’s increase in morning school timings - primary school would begin at 8 am and end at 2 pm and secondary school would start at the same time but end at 2:30 pm.

Afternoon school that begins at 1 pm, which is right after the morning shift ends, was ignored by the education department in the steering committee meeting. School teachers and the administration do not know when to begin the shift as no directive has been given so far.

No more winter vacation

According to school administration officials, the decision to reduce the winter vacation to only a few days this year in all public and private school in Sindh is unfair. Only a handful of government schools served as relief camps in Karachi and the academic session in 80 per cent of all schools in the city started on time, they argue.

According to officials, students, parents and school administrations are unhappy with the decision. Some parents have appealed to the government to withdraw this decision, they added.

During a steering committee meeting, provincial education minister Pir Mazharul Haq had said that the decision was taken as most of the schools in the province were destroyed in the floods, while in the areas that were not as affected, government schools served as relief camps.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2010.