ISLAMABAD: The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) on Wednesday issued another abrupt notification about the spring holidays in the capital city, creating confusion among the teachers and students.

According to an earlier notification, all the 422 schools and colleges under the FDE were to reopen on March 6 to observe a sports week.

However, the decision drew widespread criticism from teachers, students and their parents, who said holding of the sports week without the participation of the 9th, 10th and intermediate students would be a useless activity. During this period, the senior classes would not be able to participate in the sports activities due to their engagements in exams.

However, on March 30, the last academic day, the FDE did not inform the teachers and students about its plan to withdraw the notification. And on Wednesday, all of a sudden, the FDE canceled the notification and extended the spring holidays till April 12.

`All policy-related decisions should be taken on time. Today, the FDE took a right decision but this should have been made well on time so that teachers and students could proceed with their plans,` said Professor Sagheer Ahmed Mirani, the president of the Federal Government College Teacher Association.

He said the decision showed how top officers at the directorate were serious in promoting education in the federal capital.

`They failed to take a simple decision. First, they forced the teachers to hold an unprecedented sports week during spring holidays that too without the involvement of senior students, and now they have extended the vacation two days after the last academic day.` Malik Amir, a schoolteacher, added that a large number of students had gone to their native towns and were not aware of the extension in the holidays. The decision should have been taken at least on the last academic day.

Speaking to Dawn, a senior officer of the FDE confirmed that the spring vacations had been extended till April 12.

`Now, educational institutions will reopen on April 13. I agree we could not take the decision on time. But now we are trying to inform all the students and teachers through text messages and the media,` he said.

Despite repeated attempts, FDE Director General Aamir Ashraf Khawaja could not be contacted for his comments.

Usually, the inter-school sports event is organised in November or September each year. However, in the last academic year, which ended on March 31, the FDE skipped the annual activity.-Kashif Abbasi