KARACHI: An internationally screened Pakistani film about girls’ education and so-called “ghost schools” is awaiting a fresh censorship decision in the southern Sindh province, after filmmakers challenged authorities’ refusal to allow its public exhibition.

Ghost School, written and directed by British-Pakistani filmmaker Seemab Gul, follows a 10-year-old girl whose village school closes amid rumors that it is haunted. The story explores the real-life problem of schools that exist only on paper or have ceased functioning, part of a wider education crisis in Sindh, where UNICEF estimates 7.4 million children aged five to 16 are out of school, or around 44 percent of the school-age population.

The film has been cleared for public exhibition by Pakistan’s federal and Punjab censor authorities, according to its makers, but the Sindh Board of Film Censors refused it certification in July, preventing it from being shown in the province where its story is set and where it was filmed.

The board’s original decision said the film was “not suitable for public exhibition” but did not publicly specify what content it found objectionable. The refusal has prompted criticism from the filmmakers and educationists who believe the film’s depiction of dysfunctional schools and shortcomings in Sindh’s education system may have contributed to the decision. The censor board has not said this was the reason.

The Sindh High Court on Aug. 21 directed the provincial board to reconsider its decision, hear the filmmakers and issue a fresh, reasoned order within 15 days without being influenced by its previous rejection.

“The High Court has directed the Sindh Censor Board to reach a new decision within two weeks and review the film again,” associate producer Muhammad Yousuf Rehman told Arab News in an interview on Sunday.

“This is a matter of great happiness for us because we are hopeful that there will now be a transparent, unbiased, and fair process.”

“We hope our film receives the same opportunity that we were granted by the Federal Censor Board and the Punjab Censor Board,” he added.

Rehman said the filmmakers’ lawyer, Mirza Moiz Baig, argued that the board should reconsider the film against the grounds for refusing certification set out in the Sindh Motion Pictures Act, 2011.

Under Section 6 of the law, certification may be refused on grounds including content deemed prejudicial to the “glory of Islam,” Pakistan’s integrity, security or defense, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, or content amounting to or inciting an offense.

Rehman also recalled an exchange during the hearing in which a judge questioned whether the film contained actual jinns, or supernatural beings in Islamic tradition, that warranted preventing its screening.

“One ridiculous thing was that the judge asked, ‘Are there actual Jinns in this film that you found it appropriate to ban it?’ That was a funny moment in the court,” Rehman said.

The Sindh Board of Film Censors declined an interview request from Arab News.

In a written response, board chairman Khalid Bin Shaheen said an appeal against the board’s decision was also pending before the provincial government under Section 7 of the Sindh Motion Pictures Act.

“In view thereof, it would not be appropriate for me, at this stage, to comment publicly on the specific reasons for refusal, the contents of the film, or the merits of the matter while the appeal is pending before the competent forum,” Shaheen said.

‘GHOST SCHOOLS’

The controversy surrounding the film draws particular attention in Sindh because of the scale of the province’s longstanding education problems.

In 2021, the provincial education department identified 1,459 “ghost schools” that existed in official records but not on the ground, alongside 3,442 non-functional schools that authorities decided to close, according to government figures reported at the time.

Arab News sought updated figures from Sindh Education Department public relations officer Atif Vighio but received no response.

Educationist and columnist Dr. Tauseef Ahmed Khan said the problem extended beyond schools that existed only on paper to the quality and functioning of Sindh’s public education system.

“If all the schools actually started functioning and the standard of government schools improved, then the heavy financial burden of education on the lower-middle and middle classes would be reduced,” Khan told Arab News.

“This is a very serious issue, but the real loss is suffered by those children who cannot go to school.”

Khan said he believed the film’s portrayal of those shortcomings explained why it had encountered resistance in Sindh despite being cleared elsewhere.

“It is a very clear matter, the ban was imposed in Sindh because the Sindh government was being exposed,” he said.

The censor board has not said the film’s depiction of the education system was behind its refusal to grant certification, and Khan’s comments represent his assessment of the decision.