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Four schools sealed on SHC's orders
Karachi, Aug 22: About 5,000 children will be in a state of shock when they reach
school on Wednesday morning. The Government Delhi Boys, Girls Secondary School
and Government Delhi Primary and Higher Secondary School were all sealed after
court orders.
The sealing on Tuesday on the orders of the Sindh High
Court (SHC) was confirmed by EDO Fakhr Karim to The News.
The Principal,
afternoon shift, Government Delhi Boys School, Nayab Zohra, also said that the
school was sealed after orders of the court. Interestingly, the principal was
unaware of the process and this abrupt decision not only shocked teachers, but
the students in the afternoon shift were also left dumbfounded.
That the
matter was in the court since last year, came as a surprise because they were
kept in the dark about the whole situation.
EDO Fakhr Karim said that she
was fighting the case for the last one year and had to surrender to the court's
orders. She said that despite the fact that all outstanding dues were cleared,
the matter could not resolved, as the owner of this school was not ready to give
any concession, though city district government had offered a bid up to Rs three
million. However, this was not approved and finally the school was sealed after
the students were asked to vacate it.
When asked what the future of these
5,000 schoolchildren would be, she said that they would be accommodated in
nearby school and obviously so will the school teachers. She said that she had
also contacted DCO Javed Hanif for further orders.
However, when the DCO
was approached for comments, he said that he had just come to know of the
decision and that he'd been kept in the dark by the EDO. On accommodating 5,000
students and teachers, he questioned the optimism of the EDO in this regard. It
was matter of grave concern, the court must have thought twice before sealing
the school, as the future of the students depend on it, he said.
He was,
however, also of the opinion that they would move court to get the school back,
as it was unjust and unfair. "This was matter of land acquisition', and would be
sorted out in accordance with the law, he said.
He said he had asked the
EDO to provide complete details and modalities would be sorted out, he
said.
The Secretary, Education, Subhago Khan Jatoi, too, was unaware of
the situation, and said that the department had no lawyer, but would go into
appeal on Wednesday through the advocate-general.
About rehabilitation
of the students, he said that some alternative arrangements would be made. The news
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