Education centres closure: Will Sindh govt’s move change fate of province?

KARACHI: The Sindh government has announced the closure of education centres across the province in view of the predicted heavy monsoon rainfall that could bring disasters.

Yesterday, in a late-night announcement, all private and government education centres were closed for a day on Thursday due to the expected monsoon rains across the province.

The scheduled examinations were also postponed at schools, colleges and universities following the announcement.

The closure of the education centres raised questions about whether it will change the fate of the province as several cities including the provincial capital Karachi were facing the dilapidated state of infrastructure, roads, overflowing of drainage nullahs besides reported deaths of citizens who fell prey of the government’s negligence.

Several videos have surfaced on social media showing the miserable situation of citizens including students and daily wagers who were facing extreme difficulties amid the continuous downpours.

A video showed a school van trapped in mud after rainfall in Karachi. When a citizen asked a tractor driver of the local administration to drag the trapped vehicle with a rope, the tractor driver drove away immediately instead of helping them. The video was shared by journalist Faizullah Khan on Twitter.

چھٹیاں ختم ہوتے ہی نیا عذاب سر پہ ہے عمران خان کے سابقہ حلقے گلستان جوہر میں سڑکوں پہ اسکول کی گاڑیاں پھنس رہی ہیں بچے اندر خوفزدہ ہیں شہر لاوارث ہے پیپلز پارٹی کو دلچسپی نہیں pic.twitter.com/hy6EWOq6u3

— Faizullah Khan (@FaizullahSwati) August 17, 2022

The regular academic sessions at the education centres were also interrupted by the rains yesterday as several schools announced holiday due to the dilapidated roads and lack of transport facilities that could cause dangerous accidents to the children.

Meanwhile, several cities are hit by urban and flash flooding after the recent downpours which overflowed the nullahs, small dams and other damages infrastructure.

Instead of focusing on improving the infrastructure and relief activities, the Sindh government found an easy solution to all issues by deciding to close the education centres.