Schools across Punjab and Sindh closed for a week prompting widespread fear and absolute confusion, that continues with speculation over whether the schools will even open on Monday. Parents and school administrations around the country still remain in a state of uncertainty due to the lack of clarity on the exact nature of the threats. The vague pieces of news filtering from social media and rumours are aggravating parents and teachers alike, and this must be addressed in a more appropriate way than the show put on by our Interior Minister, where he urged people to send their children to school despite the threats.
After the APS attack the government advised private schools to adopt security measures such as installing barbed wire, hiring security guards and increasing the height of school walls. The result has been that most prominent private schools now resemble mini-fortresses already. So when orders are issued to further increase security, the only thing left would be that the military guard the schools and universities, which is preposterous. In many cases, hundreds of schools have mushroomed within residential areas and to provide security to all of them is a difficult task and not necessarily within their budget.
In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, after the attack at the Bacha Khan University, many schools were conducting security drills so that students would know what to do if gunmen attacked again. Maybe it would be wise to have security drills across the country, as gruesome as that sounds, if the government decides to go on business as usual. However if there is indeed a tangible threat that the government is aware of, then the lives of children should not be put at risk and it would be safer to keep schools shut and an alternative way be explored to ensure that children keep up with their curriculum till this threat is properly subdued.