Annual Urs of Abdullah Shah Ghazi: private institutions enjoy unannounced holiday

Despite the announcement of Sindh government that the private educational institutions would open on the occasion of Urs of Abdullah Shah Ghazi, many private schools and colleges remained closed on Monday.
The provincial government had announced this while City District Government Karachi (CDGK) decided to observe holiday on the occasion of Hazrat Abdullah Shah Ghazi's Urs in the city. Due to confusion after two government functionaries' announcements, attendance in many schools also remained low.
A brief visit to some private schools and colleges showed that students had come early in the morning but they returned to their homes. The management of these closed educational institutions had told the students to go back, by writing special notice at the notice board at the gates.
The worst sufferers were the students appearing in the ongoing mid-term examinations. Some of them asked their teachers whether exam would be conducted or not. Management of some schools said that due to closure of large number of schools, the students had avoided to visit school. They criticised the government, and demanded that the local and provincial governments should announce same decision to avoid confusion.
Institutions governed by CDGK remained close on Monday. Mansoob Ahmed Siddiqui, Director, Private Institutions, Sindh, told Business Recorder that private schools and colleges were enjoying unannounced holiday for last five years. He said the private institutions observed off-day on the occasion of Abdullah Shah Ghazi's Urs after announcement by CDGK.
"This time, the provincial government decided to keep open the educational institutions of the city due to already huge loss to the education because of bad law and order situation," he said, adding that private institution again enjoyed undeclared holiday.