As the violence in the city abated, the question of whether to send their kids to school or not weighed heavily on the minds of the parents in view of the indecision of the government.
Although the academic session had begun on Monday (August 2) after the summer holidays, yet it was almost impossible for parents to send their children to schools with life in the city completely paralysed.
“I could not possibly risk the life of my daughter by sending her to school in this climate,” said Rabia.
She went on to slate the government authorities for their indecision about opening the schools on Wednesday and Thursday without considering ground realities. “We had run out of fuel. There were no groceries at home. In such a climate who in their right mind could think of schools?” she asked.
Wajid seconded those views. “My daughter is in the kindergarten. In the absence of any clear announcement from the school management, I went to drop her off at the school on Wednesday only to find it closed! Couldn’t they have intimated us about their decision beforehand to spare us the confusion? This only shows the utter lack of coordination among the authorities and the school management.”
An official of the All Private Schools Management Association, Khalid Shah, while speaking to The News, alleged a cold response from the education department.
“I called the Secretary of Education, Alam Din Bullo, on Tuesday to inquire about the situation. Bullo said he would ask the chief secretary and get back to me which he never did. I was left with no other option but to make the announcement on TV that the private schools would remain closed on Thursday.”
Shah said that his association had appealed to the education minister to let them open their schools on Saturday to compensate for the lost days but received no response from him either.
The Secretary of Education, Alam Din Bullo, however, said that the government appreciated the gravity of the situation, but that education was important too.
“We are aware of the current atmosphere in Karachi, but these schools had just opened after two months. We cannot allow more days off as it affects education,” he said. When it was pointed out to him that there had been low turnouts at schools, Bullo said, “Attendance is not an issue. The main thing is to have the schools open. It is then up to the parents to send their children to school or not.”
He went on to add that he had not received any request from anyone to allow the schools to open on Saturdays.
“Our minister, Pir Mazharul Haq, is in Dadu providing help to the flood victims. When he comes back, we will decide on whether to allow the schools to open on Saturdays or not.”
Sharaf-uz-Zaman, also of the APPSMA, said the over 0.2 million students in Karachi were left in limbo because of the authorities indecision. “Most of the schools across Karachi remained closed. Only the ones located in relatively safer areas were open and even they had very low turnouts,” he told The News.
The main stakeholders — the students — had had mixed reactions over the entire episode. Some took it stoically while others just shrugged it off.
“Our school was supposed to open on Wednesday, but the management decided to delay it by a day due to the situation in the city,” said Hamza.
“As for today (Thursday), it was only announced quite late at night on the school’s website, due to which there was a low attendance there,” he said.
Rafeh, on the other hand, said, “We all knew the situation, so there was no point bothering over it too much? I, at least, enjoyed an uninterrupted sleep.”
