Security concerns: 86,000 schools set to reopen on Monday

Volunteer force to ensure security being constituted at UC-level: Mashood.

LAHORE: Schools that have made the required security arrangements will reopen on the 12th, said Rana Mashood Ahmed Khan, the minister for education and youth affairs.

Talking to reporters at the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday, Mashood said: “86,000 schools in the Punjab have taken the measures suggested in the government guidelines and will be allowed to reopen.” He said only 750 schools had not met the conditions set by the government. “We are hopeful that they will also be able to implement them by the end of the current week. Officials are going to meet the representatives of the school management on Saturday,” he said.

“The government has received several complaints from parents that schools are charging them for the enhanced security measures. We have formed a committee to look into the matter,” he said.

He said that the government had formed a comprehensive security plan for schools to follow. “We set security parameters for schools under various categories. Schools in the A category, including schools in Cantonment area and those funded or operated by foreigners, face a greater threat.” Mashhood said a 500,000-strong Youth Volunteer Force for Peace was being setup at the union council level across the province.

Mashhood said students from grade 9 and 10 willing to participate in this effort would be registered and core groups composed of 20 students from each college would be established in one week. He was speaking at a meeting with officials of non-governmental organisations regarding the constitution of the Youth Volunteer Force for Peace.

The minister said the time was ripe to take firm decisions. Mashhood said any compromise was tantamount to letting the sacrifices of the nation’s children go in vain. He said civil defence modules had been formulated to train members of the force in the shape of district groups. Mashood said the January 9 deadline for education institutions to beef up security was still in place.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2014.