GUJRAT: The parents of students and teachers of educational institutions have urged the government to change the schedule of summer vacation as the current routine of reopening campuses in mid-August has been affected by heavy rains since the last few years.

The heavy downpour on Friday morning forced the management of many educational institutions in the city to suspend academic activities due to the difficulties the staff and students faced in reaching the campuses amidst the worst urban flooding and damaged roads.

The situation in other major urban towns like Gujranwala, Wazirabad, Sialkot and Lalamusa was similar.

The public and private educational institutions had to shut the academic activities for at least three times in the last 15 days, said a number of parents while talking to Dawn.

On Thursday morning too, there was a light rain or an overcast conditions in Gujrat, Gujranwala and Wazirabad but as the students and teachers reached the schools, a heavy downpour was recorded from 11am to 1:30pm, making it difficult for the students and teachers to reach home as the roads and streets were inundated.

The students, parents and teachers have demanded the provincial government to consider extending vacation to the first week of September instead of reopening the institutions by Aug 15 every year.

On the other hand, the management of some educational institutions say that the studies of the students would get severely hit and the coursework would remain incomplete in the academic session if summer vacation are extended up to Sept 1.

It is pertinent to mention that until two decades ago the educational institutions used to reopen by the start of September after summer vacation.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2024