The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ordered Punjab’s School Education Department (SED) to consider extending winter vacations from one week to two weeks in view of the worsening smog situation in Lahore, as reported by 24News.
LHC’s Justice Shahid Karim heard the case on smog on the petitions of Haroon Farooq and others. He instructed Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to create awareness about smog through advertisements.
During the hearing, the lawyer, Azhar Siddiqui, informed the court that schools have declared winter vacations, which would conclude in the first week of January, however, children are being severely harmed by the city’s smog.
In this regard, Justice Shahid Karim urged the SED to consider the idea of extending the winter holidays in light of smog. The court also directed the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) and Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to request the Punjab government to acquire long-range cameras in order to monitor factories, which cause pollution.
Earlier, the Punjab government officially announced the winter vacation schedule for all public and private schools in the province. According to the SED’s notification, all schools will observe winter holidays from 24 December to 31 December 2022 and will reopen on 2 January 2023 (Monday).
Via 24News