HARIPUR: The district education office has made it mandatory for all girl students of government schools in Haripur to wear an abaya, gown or chador, drawing a mixed reaction from locals.

A circular issued earlier this week by Samina Altaf, District Education Officer, asked all principals and headmistresses of government schools to ensure that girl students wore an abaya, gown or chador.

`Instruct all students to use gown/ abaya or chador to veil/conceal/ cover up their-self in order to protect them from any unethical incident, the circular said.

Repeated attempts to seek com-ments from the officer concerned were unsuccessful. However, one of her subordinates confirmed that the circular was genuine.

`It was necessary to protect girl students from a growing number of complaints of eve-teasing and harassment,` she said.

`A good number of girl students have developed a habit of wearing dupatta or `half chador`, which is not sufficient to cover their bodies, the official added. In reply to a question, she said since providing police protection to girl students at every nook and corner was not possible, the administration had decided to make it binding upon them to observe `proper purdah for their safety` Commenting on the circular,Umar Farooq, a social activist and office-bearer of Rawadari Tehreek, criticised the decision. `Instead of ensuring the safety of girl students, the authorities have bound them to dress against their will,` he said.

The social activist stressed the nee d for ef fecting a gradual change in social attitudes and for educating girls and boys both to respect each other.

But Muhammad Sohail, whose daughter is a class X student, supported the move. `It will certainly help bring down complaints of harassment. The government should have made the decision much earlier,` he observed.

Naveed Khan, father of two school-going daughters, called the initiative laudable.