Massive load shedding has made summer vacations miserable for students, as pupils are not able to fulfill their plans, Pakistan Today has learnt. Students in quest of relaxation and summer-related activities are passing their days at home with great stress owing to continuous power outages. Thousands of pupils, who gave Matriculation and O Levels exams, have been dismayed claiming that their plans were badly damaged due to the aforementioned reasons. They are also unable to visit fitness clubs and swimming pools, as power outages spoil such plans as well.
Students going to summer camps also complain about the lack of proper facilities and claimed that uninterrupted power suppliers (UPS) could not work for a long time. Pupils said that teachers also did not take much interest in summers due to intense muggy conditions. Students, appearing in entry tests of engineering, medicine and other prgrammes, are also facing immense problems in preparing for the tests in intense power outages.
They criticised the authorities concerned saying that neither they were allowed to prepare properly for Intermediate exams nor allowed to give one of the most important tests of their careers due to load-shedding. A teacher said that students were least interested in summer camps because they were not able to complete their sleep. He said that purpose of summer camps was to polish skills of students but the camps are proving to be an additional burden on students.
Class 6 student Hamza Butt said that computer gaming was his passion but he could not play it continuously thanks to load shedding. He said that students wait for summer vacations for a whole year but got nothing except outages. Hamza said that whenever he went to play cricket or football in a nearby ground, electricity was gone, which makes life intolerable for him.
Students with different habits, including creation of computer graphics, painting, gaming, watching TV and other activities, said that outdoor hobbies had already been minimised in the city due to poor law and order, whereas, power shortage was adding insult to injury.
Students with reading habits claim that their eyesight was affected by studying books in dim light. They said that students needed a good environment to study but unfortunately it was not available to them. Sitting like ducks without any creative or productive activity was extremely difficult, class 8 student Momin said. He said that the foremost purpose of summer vacations was recreation but nothing was left for him except going to restaurants. He said that medical experts advise citizens to avoid eating from restaurants, which almost finishes all recreation options. In depressing times for the country, citizens need proper entertainment and opportunities, Momin said. He said that one could not even visit a public library while fearing load shedding.
