"one can easily watch the movements"
The registration of a private school in Karachi has been suspended after hidden cameras were found in bathrooms on the premises.
The Sindh Education and Literacy Department made the decision to suspend the registration after the school’s administration failed to explain why there were cameras.
Cameras were discovered in both the boys and girls bathrooms.
A teacher of The Haracks School, located in the town of Safoura Goth, had approached the provincial education department on November 3, 2021, with a complaint.
In the complaint, she said she had spotted cameras in the school’s bathrooms and sought action against the administration.
This resulted in an inquiry committee from the education department’s Directorate of Inspection and Registration of Private Institutions visiting the private school.
They entered one of the bathrooms and found a camera in the wall.
Officials said: “Hidden CCTV cameras were installed behind a sheet with holes in the area of the washbasins situated with the toilets of girls and boys/washrooms so that one can easily watch the movements of male and female students and staff.”
The Directorate of Inspection & Registration of Private Institutions Sindh found hidden cameras installed in women's washroom of a private school named The Haracks School located at Chappal Sun City Scheme 33 Karachi. The school's registration has been cancelled by the Dirpis. pic.twitter.com/xqfXsY1YkP
— Arshad Yousafzai (@Arshadyousafzay) November 5, 2021
While authorities at the private school are allowed to install cameras for security purposes and to ensure the safety of the students and staff, an official said:
“But they cannot install cameras in washrooms.”
Later in the day, the inquiry committee served a notice to the school’s administration, asking its principal to appear before the department on November 4, 2021, to explain the reason for the cameras.
Despite the order, no official turned up.
Reacting to the matter, Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah said the measures will not be tolerated, even if the school claims it was for security purposes.
He also asked the parents of the students to approach the FIA Cybercrime Circle in case they want to make a complaint against the school management.
It was reported that parents and local residents protested against the school after the news circulated on social media.
One Twitter user said: “Shame on The Haracks School Karachi for installing secret hidden cameras in girls washroom which is commonly used by female students and female staff members of the school.
“This is very alarming and shameful.”
The directorate’s director-general, Dr Mansoob Hussain Siddiqui, subsequently issued the order to suspend the registration certificate granted to the school, under Section-8 (1) (Cancellation or suspension of certificate of registration) of the Sindh Private Educational Institutions (Regulation & Control) Ordinance 2001 (Amended) Act, 2003, with immediate effect.
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