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Academic session controversy
Karachi, June 15(The News): The new academic session for school goers in the province will now begin from
August 16 as announced by the Sindh Education department. This means that the
summer vacations for educational institutions will span a period of over two and
a half months. However, this decision is in sharp contrast to the stand taken by
the private educational institutes, which ordered the schools to open on August
1.
In many of the private schools, examinations were completed in the
first week of May and the results were announced in the first week of June,
which meant that students had the entire month of May to themselves. Now, with
the schools opening in the mid of August, students would be enjoying what will
be close to a four month break.
The provincial education department has
strictly announced that any private school defying the orders would face
repercussions. Last year, too, the department issued the same notification,
which was violated by the private schools. In fact, the concerned authorities
are least bothered about the implementation of the governmental orders, thus
making a mockery of the rules, said one disgruntled parent.
The matter
is not one of defiance, but of the mental torture arising from the tug-of-war
between the private school management association and officials of the education
department, which makes planning vactions forstudents' parents an agonising
affair.
This is not the end of the story. Interestingly, students of HSC
Part II and I are scheduled to take exams in the month of June that will end by
the end of the current month; while exams for HSC General group (HSC I & II)
will start at the end of this month and end in July. This haphazard schedule of
the educational institutions creates mental distress both for the parents and
students.
It must be mentioned here that the Sindh Minister for
Education, Hamida Khuro solely took the decision regarding the summer break,
starting from June 1 and ending on August 16 without taking into confidence the
steering committee and other stakeholders.
Regardless of that, the
private schools association has categorically said that all schools that run
under their umbrella will open on August 1, so as to prepare the students for
August 14 Independence Day celebrations.
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