HARIPUR: The district's education office has made it mandatory for all students in Haripur public schools to wear an abaya, a dress or a chador, which caused a mixed reaction from the locals.
A circular issued earlier this week by Samina Altaf, District Education Officer, asked all principals and principals of government schools to ensure that the students wore an abaya, a robe or a chador.
"Tell all students to wear gown / abaya or chador to watch / hide / cover themselves to protect them from any unethical incident," says the circular.
Repeated attempts to seek comments from the officer in question were unsuccessful. However, one of his subordinates confirmed that the circular was genuine.
"It was necessary to protect female students from a growing number of mockery and harassment complaints," he said.
"A good number of students have developed the habit of using dupatta or 'half chador," which is not enough to cover their bodies, "the official added. In response to a question, he said that since it was not possible to provide police protection to the students in every corner and corner, the administration had decided to force them to observe "purdah adequate for their safety".
Commenting on the circular, Umar Farooq, social activist and official of Rawadari Tehreek, criticized the decision. "Instead of guaranteeing the safety of the students, the authorities forced them to dress against their will," he said.
The social activist emphasized the need to make a gradual change in social attitudes and educate girls and boys so that they respect each other.
But Muhammad Sohail, whose daughter is a class X student, supported the measure. “It will certainly help reduce harassment complaints. The government should have made the decision much earlier, ”he observed.
Naveed Khan, father of two school daughters, described the initiative as laudable.
Posted on Dawn, September 14, 2019
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1505074/dress-code-issued-for-schoolgirls-in-haripur