DHA schools shut down indefinitely?

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Islamabad blasts spread panic among students, parents
* Patrolling increased, more personnel deployed, CCTV cameras installed in schools
* DHA spokesman says parents to be notified soon

LAHORE: The Defence Housing Authority (DHA) administration on Tuesday announced the closure of all educational institutions located in the housing society for indefinite time to boost up the security arrangements at the institutions. There are seven public schools and a number of private institutions situated in the DHA and a number of them are providing co-education. The administration has kept the schools closed for the past few days after the intelligence agencies reported likely terrorist attacks in the wake of the Waziristan operation. The DHA authorities had previously planned to open the schools on Wednesday (today) after beefing up the security in and around the school premises. However, they decided to prolong the closure for a few more days after the suicide bombings at the International Islamic University in Islamabad (IIUI).

Panic: The incident has spread fear and panic among the students, parents and the school administrations. Many parents were reported to be uncertain about whether the students should be sent to schools or not, as the administrations had not intimated them about further closure. The officials of the DHA administration held a meeting in their head office to discuss a future course of action on Tuesday. The officials told Daily Times that the final decision could not be reached due to the blast at the IIUI occurring after the meeting. They said it was probable that a large number of students would not attend school on Wednesday, while those who come may be given closure notification if the administration decided to close schools.

Security arrangements: The recent security measures by the DHA administration include an increase in the number of mobile vans patrolling around the premises, the deployment of uniformed and under-cover policemen and security guards in and around the schools, a ban on the entry of strangers in the streets during the pick and drop timings, installation of closed-circuit TV (CCTV) cameras, disallowing the entry of any vehicle inside the school premises, and raising the height of boundary walls and installation of barbed wires. The other security measures include the installation of walk-through scanners, removal of any possible points of infiltration into the schools, tight internal security, presence of security during the night so that no one is able to hide in the school premises and removal of bushes and fences in the vacant plots situated around the buildings to prevent any potential terrorists hideouts.

Spokesman: DHA spokesman Tajamul Hussain Anjum told Daily Times that the DHA authorities had planned to open the schools by Wednesday as they had already taken all the security measures to avoid any untoward incident, but they might prolong the closure. He said the authorities were extremely concerned about the security and comfort of their residents and would take a decision that would be in the students’ favour and the parents would be informed soon. afnan khan

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