News Desk: A court in Pakistan has directed the Sindh Board of Film Censors to reconsider its decision to deny screening certification to Ghost School, an award-winning documentary highlighting the problem of non-functional schools in Sindh province.
In an order issued on Wednesday, a two-judge constitutional bench of the Sindh High Court, headed by Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed, instructed the board to review the documentary’s certification within 10 days. The court also set aside the board’s earlier directive requiring certain expressions and scenes to be removed from the film.
The documentary was financed, produced and directed by British-Pakistani filmmaker Seemab Gul, who approached the court after the provincial censor board refused to grant it a screening certificate in August.
Gul said the documentary was based on extensive research into the problem of so-called ghost schools, which are reportedly listed in official records despite being non-functional. In such cases, schools may exist only on paper while salaries continue to be paid to teaching staff.
Describing the film’s subject, the filmmaker said the issue affects children’s access to education and deserves public attention.
According to the filmmaker’s counsel, the documentary follows a 10-year-old girl who discovers that the only school in her village has shut down after rumours spread that it was haunted.
The legal team argued that the Sindh censor board had demanded eight cuts before granting permission for public exhibition. However, the documentary had reportedly received unrestricted screening clearance without cuts from Pakistan’s Central Board of Film Censors and the Punjab Board of Film Censors.
Gul questioned why the documentary had been cleared by other authorities but denied certification in Sindh, where the issue of ghost schools is particularly relevant.
The court’s direction now requires the provincial board to reconsider its decision within the stipulated period.
The case has also drawn attention to wider concerns about the state of public education infrastructure in Pakistan. In neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, around 37,000 classrooms in government schools were reported to be in dilapidated condition, according to an education department official.
The figures emerged days after a school building collapsed in Peshawar, killing 35 people, including 34 children.
The controversy surrounding Ghost School highlights the challenges involved in bringing attention to public education issues through documentary filmmaking. The court’s order gives the Sindh censor board an opportunity to reconsider its position, although the final outcome of the certification process remains to be seen.
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