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Beacon House primary section closed unannounced
May 19(The News): The closure of the primary section of Beacon House School System prior to the
completion of final examinations has perplexed parents as well as other private
and government schools running under the local administration.
Owing to
the pressures and "threatening calls," the school management said that it had
decided to close its primary section, though the secondary section was open for
examinations.
When Sabhago Khan Jatoi, Sindh Secretary, Department of
Education, learnt about the closure of the school, he expressed surprise and
said that being the registering authority, he was not taken into confidence in
this connection.
"If the law and order situation was so grim, then how
were other 9,000 government and private schools carrying out their academic
activities in the metropolis," he asked.
He also said that action would
be taken against the closure of the primary section without prior approval of
the education authority. The school had closed for summer vacation whereas the
vacations were yet to start from June 1.
Jatoi added that the
announcement of the school has spread confusion among other schools in the
metropolis. Phone calls kept pouring in the education department, inquiring
about any unusual situation, he said.
The Beacon House School System and
the "Educators", its franchise, was abruptly closed without any notification at
a time when annual examinations were still underway.
Only one paper of
English was held on May 11 and soon after the May 12 mayhem, the school
administration closed the primary section of the school saying that as the law
and order situation was deteriorating and the school could not continue its
academic activities.
When this reporter tried to contact the Regional
Director School, Beacon House School System, Yasmeen Aqil, she was not available
as she was summoned to the Head Office, Lahore.
The students learnt
through the school gatekeeper only on Monday morning that the school was closed.
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