KARACHI, June 1: Many private schools across the city and its suburbs were closed on Friday for a two-month summer vacation (June-July) despite the chief minister’s approval for the enforcement of the July-August summer vacation accorded formally on May 18.

However, the government schools in general, along with some other private schools, which intended to start the vacation in mid-June or on July 1 remained open.

Education circles blamed the education officialdom for the uneven observance of the official two-month summer vacation.

First, the initiators of the idea to observe summer vacation in July and August to include Ramazan and save the schoolchildren from hardship woke up very late and secondly the plan was kept so vague and full of confusion. “The people at the helm of affairs played it to their chest when it came to implement the government decisions,” said a source in the education department.

Following reservations among the private schools of all cadres and status, the Sindh education secretary had moved a summary in the last week of May as well for the declaration of the July-August summer vacation as “optional” for this year, which was turned down by the chief minister on May 29, leaving no justified means for change in the previously practised June-July summer vacation.

Earlier, applications were received from about 500 schools, requesting the education department for allowing June-July vacation on various grounds, including the pressure from parents and teachers. Almost all these schools, including the Cambridge, Matric, AKUEB systems, are now observing summer vacation as they fulfilled the government’s requirement of “giving prior intimation” in this regard.

Syed Khalid Shah, chairman of the All Private Schools Management Association, said that the idea of observing summer vacation in July and August was very practical and in line with the climatic conditions of the province, but things could not move in the right direction only due to the “incompetence of the education department”.

Today, about 40 per cent of the private schools in almost all defunct towns of the city started observing summer vacation, while some more were also planning to go on vacation soon, he said. Now the authorities were required to start working for July-August summer vacation in 2013, he said, adding that the education secretary acted very slowly for meaningful implementation of the government’s decision for the 2012 summer vacation.

The acting secretary of the education department and deputy secretary concerned were contacted by Dawn to get their comments on the failure, but they were not willing to speak on the “controversial summer vacation”.