KARACHI: The Supreme Court (SC) Karachi Registry gave a deadline of one week to the Sindh government and education department to resolve the matter pertaining to footpath school in Clifton during the hearing of a suo motu case on the Sindh government’s alleged move to shut the school down.
The apex court ordered that the matter should be resolved within a week and a detailed report submitted to the court.
The school in question, situated under Bahria Icon Tower flyover in Clifton area of Karachi, reportedly received threats for closure by the Sindh government.
In January this year, Syeda Anfas Ali Shah Zaidi, who has been running the footpath school for three years, said the Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) Managing Director Naheed Durrani asked them to close down the school at the earliest.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar during the hearing on Saturday remarked, “The children should not study on footpaths. The future of the children is extremely important for us. I don’t want the children to continue to study on footpaths.”
The petitioner Zaidi told the court that she has not gotten the support of anyone. She shared that about 600 students study in the school and about 150 are learning martial arts. “I am teaching students to pick up trash.”
The CJP ordered that a building should be constructed and adequate facilities be provided to the children.
Earlier on Feb 17, CJP forbade action against the footpath school until space wass provided for its relocation.
During the hearing, the CJP observed that the Sindh Education Department should not nag the concerned administration for the closure of the school. Instead, he stated, the school should be provided with all the necessary facilities.