FDE revises school timing, declares Friday, Saturday off-days for students
Zubair Qureshi
The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) has revised its early schedule for schools timing, six days a week, 8:00 a.m—1:30 p.m. to four days a week from Monday to Thursday, 7;00 am—11:00 a.m.
According to the notification issued on Wednesday, there will be four-day classwork and students will come in groups.
Each group will come for only two days, says the notification. Friday will be a working day, though only for staff and admin.
For the evening shift, the FDE has fixed the same timing making it clear the principle of staggered attendance would apply on both the morning and evening shifts and no class will be held with more than 50 per cent attendance.
There will be no compromise on Covid-19 SOPs, the notification further says.
The decision was taken in the backdrop of extremely hot weather and after the media reported a number of students fainted on Wednesday as a result of power outage and suffocation caused because of heat.
Although it was around 40 C in the capital yet according to Met Office heat intensity was much higher.
At least 25 children were rushed to a hospital from various schools of Islamabad after they fainted due to the sweltering heat on Wednesday.
According to details, students of schools in Bhara Kahu and Malpur localities were most affected and were given emergency medical aid after their health deteriorated.
There were incidents of nosebleeding and students falling unconscious.
These students of Islamabad’s suburbs complained there were no adequate arrangements, no cooling system, rather power loadshedding made things worse for them.
Not only in rural Islamabad, students of the schools in urban Islamabad also complained of hot and humid conditions making it difficult to concentrate on studies.
A teacher of the FDE school wishing not to be named said never in the past Islamabad schools conducted classes in such sweltering heat.
It would be good and in the best interests of the students as well as the teachers that FDE should announce summer vacation or the situation would go out of control, said she.
Three children in my school either fainted or bled from the nose, she said and obviously it was due to intense heat, after which their teachers, alarmed, poured water over their heads.
The schoolchildren were then taken to a nearby health facility for first aid.
After the alarming incident, 200 schoolchildren were allowed to go home from the Federal Government School due to absence of power.
