Private school owners demand package or institutions reopening
PESHAWAR:06 April: Private school owners from across the province Monday staged a protest here on Monday and blocked the main road for all kinds of traffic to press the government to announce the immediate reopening of the private schools or announce a handsome bailout package for them.
The protest forced the government to constitute a committee to look into their demands and come up with workable solutions to resolve the issue. The committee would be headed by Managing Director Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation Zariful Maani, with director general private schools regulatory authority and representatives of the private schools as members.
The owners and teachers of these institutions gathered at the provincial capital and they blocked the main GT Road and Suri Pul and Khyber Road, causing serious problems in movement of vehicular traffic. Massive traffic jams were witnessed from 11 am to 4 pm, when the protestors called off their protest after the assurance given to them by Minister for Education Sharam Khan Tarakai. The minister said that the government was concerned by the suspension of the academic activities. He assured that he would take up the issue in the next meeting of the National Command Operation Center (NCOC).
The private school owners were of the opinion that the government has badly failed to work out a workable strategy for the educational institutions. They said that owing to the long closure of schools, a good number of low-paid private institutions have already been closed down rendering thousands of teachers working there jobless.
Parents on the other hand have their own reservations. They say that the private schools are concerned about their business. They do collect fees from parents for the duration when the schools are closed. Even they are reluctant to give the government-announced concessions to the students and the studies of their children are suspended.
Managing Director Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation Zariful Maani said that the situation was really complicated. “We are thinking over different options. Hopefully, we would reach some workable solutions, which would be presented before the government so that the crisis could be overcome,” he said.The news.