Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has tasked provincial ministers and secretaries with reviewing security arrangements made by schools in A+ and A categories. PHOTO: ONLINE
The majority of educational institutions in the city reopened on Monday after winter vacation that had been extended following a terrorist attack on a school in Peshawar on December 16. Some schools, however, remained closed over security concerns.
Most of the missionary schools did not open citing the arrangements they were making to improve security.
“We received an SMS from the school administration that it was not reopening on Monday in view of security arrangements,” said Mustafa Ahmad whose son studies at a leading missionary school.
“The text did not confirm the date… it just read that the school was likely to reopen in a week.”
Police and law-enforcement agencies had placed 135 schools in the category A+ – indicating a high level of threat.
Operations DIG Haider Ashraf told The Express Tribune that divisional SPs had visited schools in their areas to review security arrangements there. He said police had also arranged a two-day training programme for security guards at schools. Police patrol around the schools, the DIG said.
Aitchison College also extended holidays to complete security measures.
“The school reopened on Monday but its board of governors extended the vacation noticing that a wall being built around it was incomplete,” Civil Lines SP Imtiaz Sarwar said.
The attendance was thin at many schools.
“The attendance was around 50 per cent. The government is taking all-out steps to ensure the safety of children but still there are apprehensions in the parents’ minds,” an official at the office of education EDO said.
Most universities too reopened on Monday.
The Punjab University administration banned the entry of ‘irrelevant’ people.
A spokesman for the Education Department said the department discouraged the extension in holidays.
Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has tasked provincial ministers and secretaries with reviewing security arrangements made by schools in A+ and A categories.
Education Minister Mashhood Ahmad Khan said commissioners and RPOs would chalk out a roadmap for the inspection on a daily basis. The minister himself visited Government Girls High School, Model Town, Divisional Public School, Government. College of Home Economics, Queen Mary College, Government Girls College, Model Town, and Aitcheson College on Monday.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2015.
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In the above picture the guard is standing among the children without any Protective gear, communication equipment and he is like a sitting duck. Also he is holding such a heavy semi-automatic rifle without any scope and we know such guns are ineffective for the combat of accurate nature?.. It is my request to the government to Provide all the guards with protective gear ( Bullet proof vest, ceramic belt etc ) and also arrange some Outposts for them away from the ground. In any attack one guard with lack of proper training and equipment cannot cope at all. POF do produce a European version MP5 and atleast provide all the guards with MP5s for this purpose.