ISLAMABAD: Although there will not be a public holiday on Wednesday, ambiguity on the part of theFederalDirectorateof Education (FDE) regarding a public holiday on Nov 9 had students, teachers and parents confused on Tuesday.

Teachers in some schools had announced that there would be a holiday and that their school would be closed on Wednesday to mark Iqbal Day, the birth anniversary of national poet Allama Iqbal.

Sources said teachers at various institutions had unofficially announced a holiday on Wednesday, and in some schools students were also informed of the holiday during their morning assembly.

`All the confusion was caused because of misreporting on social and the mainstream media. We were told that a TV channel and newspaper reported there would be a holiday, so we informed our students of the holiday,` said a schoolteacher who asked not to be named.

He said a falce notification about the holiday that was circling on social media only heightened the confusion.

He said the FDE director generalShahnaz A Riaz, after checking with theMinistryofCapitalAdministration and Development Division (CADD), should have informed all the heads educational institutions that there would not be a holiday.

An FDE director told Dawn that the teaching community and parents called the directorate many times on Tuesday for confirmation about the holiday.

`It was a day of confusion about the holiday, but we never issued any notification and informed everyone who asked that there would not be a holiday as we did not receive any notification in this regard,` he said, adding that it was possible some teachers had assumed the media reports were accurate and announced a holiday.

`After the clarification was issued by the interior minister, the situation is normal now,` he said.

`Although the FDE did not announce a holiday, at the same time it did not take notice of the growing confusion,` the teacher said.

A CADD spokesperson, Attiqueur Rehman, confirmed that there would not be a holiday on Wednesday and `all educational institutions will remain open`.A Reporter