Educational institutes shut down throughout the country
High-level security will be provided to schools under Security Forces
Dunya News Report (Jibran Dost)
ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Interior on Wednesday ordered the Police and Rangers to increase security to all educational institutions across the country, following the attack carried out on Bacha Khan Univeristy Charsadda a week earlier.
A three level security plan following the approval of Senior Superintendant of Police Operations Sajid Kiani had also been issued for all educational institutes.
High-level security will be provided to schools under Security Forces, mid-level security to missionary schools and normal security in government and private schools. Furthermore, it has also been directed to elevate the walls and put barbed wires on them, specifically in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Under the new security plan, 12 government schools, 131 boys’ colleges, 19 girls’ colleges and 19 universities are put under A+ security category in Lahore.
Meanwhile, Army Public Schools (APSs) and schools working under Pakistan Navy in Karachi were also closed on Wednesday.
The statement of the Interior Ministry however, did not identify the explanation behind the unexpected shutdown of the educational institutes.
On the other hand, Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashood, while talking to the media on Tuesday expressed that the sudden closure of the schools was necessary because students were falling ill and catching flu as the temperature in Lahore dropped down to four degree Celsius.
“Two days ago, the parents complained about harshness of the weather and diseases to children,” he said. “The meteorological office, too, told the government that the extreme cold wave would continue for another three to four days. We took all the stakeholders into confidence and made the decision to announce the holidays,” he further added.
The minister however, refused to agree to the fact that various schools, both private and government, were shutdown because of threats.
At the same time, Station House Officers (SHOs) are ordered to patrol around educational institutes at the time of their opening and closing. In addition, they are also asked to deploy additional strength of Policemen. The SSP also directed for a crackdown on professional alms seekers keeping in view the security perspective.
On the other hand, educational institutes under federal board in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will remain closed till Jan 31st.
At the same time, Charsadda district nazim Fahad Riaz Khan has asked police to ensure foolproof security at schools and universities in the district. According to the district nazim, such attacks should be prevented at all costs and the police should ensure security arrangements are made at all educational institutes.
“All private and government schools must install CCTV cameras, barbed wire on boundary walls, metal detectors and deploy security guards,” he added.
Fahad Riaz told police officials to check all such institutions and action should be taken against all those private schools that do not fulfil these requirements.
Izhar Khan, the acting Swabi DPO, organised a meeting on Wednesday, which was attended by representatives from government and private schools. He directed them to immediately introduce security measures.
