Between home and school: Students, parents annoyed by confusion

Cadd had extended winter holidays before cutting them short again.

ISLAMABAD:

Abrupt decisions taken regarding winter vacations at schools and colleges run by the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) have ended up disturbing the academic routine of students.

With very low attendance, a majority of the classrooms in the capital’s schools gave a haunted look when they reopened on Tuesday.

“First, nobody informed us about the extension of the holidays and then the same happened when they were cancelled. While dropping my daughter at school on January 3, the closed gates took be aback. It was the school’s gatekeeper who informed us about the extension,” said Munir Hussain, an annoyed parent. “It was very inconvenient for me to drop my child back at home and I reached office much later than usual.”

Previously, the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) had announced vacations would be from December 25 to 31. The schools opened on the first day of the New Year with low attendance before CADD, on January 3, abruptly announced that educational institutes will remain close till January 11 due to severe cold weather --- all this, while the buses were busy picking children for school.

The same evening, the division notified that the new holidays were scheduled exclusively for schools and not for the colleges, contrary to the print media’s announcement that colleges will also remain closed.

Adding to the confusion, on January 4, the authorities cancelled the vacations again and announced that the institutes will open from January 6, saying the intensity of cold had decreased.

“Students sitting exams at the college felt extremely disturbed by this,” according an assistant professor at Islamabad Model Postgraduate College for Girls, F-7/2. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2014.