Private schools have shown their displeasure over the Punjab government’s given schedule of summer holidays for educational institutes of Punjab. According to the Schools Education Department, summer vacations will start on June 1 end on August 14. Private schools maintain that the duration of these vacations is too long and not followed by other provinces. They say that even the Sindh government has announced shorter vacations from July until August.
According to sources, the Sindh government made this decision in order to give holidays to the students in the month of Ramazan, which will fall in August. The private schools are demanding the government shorten summer vacations because they believe that the ‘culture of lengthy holidays could halt the academic process’. They say that the students of class five and eight have to appear in Punjab Examination Commission Exams (PEC) whereas others have to appear in the board exams as well, and therefore need to attend classes.
Students’ parents argue that private schools want to start summer vacations from June 15 so that they could get the fees for three months, which is unfair. Mrs Butt told Pakistan Today that the summer vacations must end after Eid-ul-Fitr, so that the parents and the students could fast comfortably during Ramazan. She said that schools fleece parents through summer camps. All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association (APPSMA) President Adeeb Javedani said the private schools could not follow the Punjab government’s schedule and would start holidays from June 15.
He said the Sindh Government gave only two-month summer vacations, whereas India just gives the vacations of one and a half months. He said that last year the government allowed summer camps but the case was different this year. Schools Education Department Secretary Aslam Kamboh told Pakistan Today that the summer vacations would be according to the set schedule, which was from June 1 to August 14. He said schools can hold summer camps as there was no ban on them.