Schools reopen across the country today

Schools across the country directed to heighten their security

QUETTA/ PESHAWAR/ ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE/ KARACHI: Schools across the country are set to reopen today (Monday) after an extended winter break in the aftermath of a brutal massacre at a Peshawar school.

Students of the Army Public School – the site of the Dec 16 terrorist attack  – will resume their studies at the institution with mixed feelings.

In a bid to stave off the possibility of more such attacks, schools across the country were directed to heighten their security and thwart attempts by militants to overrun these institutions.

Similarly, all public educational institutes of the capital, along with a majority of the private schools and colleges, will resume their educational activities today after the winter vacations were extended from December 31 till January 11 due to security concerns.



The capital administration along with police has augmented security measures by conducting an audit of 355 of 422 schools being operated by the Federal Directorate of Education.

Of the capital’s higher education institutes, only NUST will open its campus a week later while the rest will resume education activities on Monday

In Punjab, winter vacations were also extended till January 11 for all schools to bolster security following last month’s attack on the APS. The provincial government instructed schools to raise boundary walls and place two-foot barbed wire on top of them.

Meanwhile, scores of parents of students at public schools in Multan staged a demonstration on Sunday, urging the government to guarantee their children’s safety at campuses.

Similarly in Sindh, schools are set to resume academic activity from January 12 (today) after an unusual extension in the winter break.

Schools in northern and central Balochistan will remain closed as winter vacations in the province end in March due to the extreme weather conditions of the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2015.