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Teachers wonder how they will manage to coursework after long holidays in Karachi
KARACHI, Oct 23: Schools around the city
re-opened Monday after remaining closed for almost a week. Most schools and
colleges around the city are now wondering how they will manage to complete
coursework in time as they have less time than usual to cover the same amount of
syllabus.
"Students take time to fall back into routine after every
weekend and considering they had a four-day long weekend this time, they will
have to put in extra effort to prepare for the end-of-term exams and finish the
course in lesser time than expected," said O-level teacher, Mehreen Ayaz.
Eid Milan parties were held in several schools on Wednesday which could
not be counted as a routine school day. Therefore, students almost got a ten-day
break while those whose schools closed earlier, enjoyed a two-week long
vacation. Riots after the suicide attack further intensified tension in the city
and parents were afraid of sending their children to school in such conditions.
Consequently, students have been unable to keep up with the pressure and not
performed up to the mark despite being capable of doing better, said Afshan
Qureshi, a member of the administrative staff of a renowned private school near
Bilawal House.
Schools have also suffered financially along with facing
the burden of work load.
"When Benazir decided to come as a Pakistani
citizen, she was well aware that schools will have to be closed, while her
children are studying at Oxford and other schools in the UAE," said Naveed
Iqbal, the owner and administrator of S.M. Public Academy.
S.M. Public
Academy has six branches in North Nazimabad, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and
Gulistan-e-Johar which means that the majority of its students are from these
areas.
"We provide electricity, water, a large variety of snacks at our
canteens which alone is a loss of millions of rupees." Iqbal wondered how the
country would achieve Benazir Bhutto's claims of democracy and prosperity if the
youth was not being properly educated.
Students at the Indus Valley
School of Art and Architecture situated opposite Bilawal House are struggling to
complete their work on time. Hafsa Zuberi, a final year student, said that her final dissertation had to be submitted on November 11 and
students were wasting time sitting at home since the school was closed for
Bhutto's arrival.
"Students had planned a schedule to complete their work
during the Eid break but our mid-review scheduled for Friday was postponed till
Monday, pushing the deadline even closer." Although Saturday was a working day,
several students hesitated to travel to that part of the city due to riots.
"None of my classmates went to school on Saturday because it wasn't safe and now
we are struggling to make up for lost time."
Students and teachers feel
that the loss of precious school days right before the end of the term is a big
blow to the literacy rate of the country which is already low.
"It is not
possible for students to be constructive when there is so much destruction
around them," said Saleha Mirza, a sociology teacher at a local private school.
"In their personal lives, people conformed to the same behaviour they
experienced in their social lives. Negative events in society frustrate its
inhabitants and have a separate effect on every person. Benazir should invest in
free clinics so that psychologists can help people recover from the trauma they
have recently experienced before securing democracy." Daily Times
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| Education News | | Updated: 25 May, 2012 |
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