The All Pakistan Private Schools' Association has said that it
would open schools from August 15, defying govt that said schools would be
allowed to open from September 15 provided cases continued to decline.
At
a press conference, in Islamabad on Monday, the association's head, Hidayat
Khan, said that coronavirus was on a downward trend and cases were declining.
"Educational institutions have been closed for six to eight months,
causing huge loss to students," he said, adding that the association had
tried to "negotiate with the government but it did not listen".
"If
the government tries to interfere in our matters, we will do a million
march," he warned.
Representatives from schools and associations around the country, including Dr Afzal Babar, Malik Abrar, Zahid Dar, Zufran Ilahi, Amjad Ali Shah, Sheikh Mohammad Akram. Iftikhar Ali Haider and Kashif Mirza, participated in the conference and discussed problems faced due to closure of educational institutions.
They alleged that the government was "inefficient" and if they ran a
campaign, the "government would fall". They said they would open the
schools as per standard operating procedures (SOPs), adding that madressahs had
already opened and had held examinations as well.
"The
closure of schools by the government is a violation of Article 18 of the
Constitution, which is resulting in loss for 50 million children. We have
repeatedly asked the government to allow opening of schools while taking
precautionary measures but there has been no action."
According
to the association, 90 per cent of private schools were located on rented
properties and due to the closures, the schools were not in a position to pay
rent and utility bills. The representatives demanded that the government also
include payment for the rent, utility bills and teachers' salaries in its. They
also demanded that the government pay school fees for children whose parents
were unable to due to financial constraints caused by the pandemic.
They
further demanded that the government announce special grants for private
schools, pointing out that "educating every citizen is the foremost
responsibility of the government under Article 25 [of the Constitution]".
"Due
to closures, 207,000 schools, 1.5 million teachers and 25 million students are
now facing an uncertain future," Khan said. "Even countries badly
affected by the pandemic have reopened their schools but we have not. The
government's wrong decision will create an education crisis in the
country."
He
claimed that private schools were providing "free quality education to
thousands of deserving students which the government with all its resources was
unable to do", adding that these schools also paid 17 to 24 different
types of taxes to the government. "The notification regarding a 20 pc
decrease in fees was also in violation of the Constitution."
Khan
cautioned that if schools were not reopened soon, then 50 pc of private
schools would be permanently closed and hundreds of thousands of people would
be rendered unemployed.
He
further said that the government did not allow board examinations to be held
but fees had already been taken and demanded that the government return Rs25bn
in this regard.
The
association also demanded that the government clear payments owed to the Punjab
Education Fund schools and release teachers who had been arresting while
protesting.
They
called upon the government to consider "private schools' problems as its
own and not push them to the wall".
