KARACHI: In reaction to the recent decision taken by NCOC about the closure of educational institutes till May 23, the private school associations of Sindh have said that the concerned authorities have taken a discriminative decision against the schools by keeping them closed while other sectors will remain open after May 17.
The All Private Schools Management Association Chairman Syed Tariq Shah said that our association believes that if the government was intended to extend the lockdown and keeping other sectors along with schools, we won’t criticize such a decision. However, if other sectors were allowed to operate after Eid, then it would be an injustice with the private sector of education.
The school owners are thoroughly implementing the Covid-19 SOPs while other sectors don’t care. Thus, targeting only schools won’t serve the cause. “Our demand from the NCOC is that the lockdown for the larger interest of students and nation is acceptable to us, in case all the sectors remain closed. Else, the decision is biased and discriminative against the schools. Even all the private school associations have ensured the provincial government and the federal government that they will be strictly following the SOPS”
He said that schools are the places where teachers can assist the government by giving awareness to the students about the precautions and SOPs. The rest of the sectors such as factories, markets, transport, and others don’t have any organized workforces who can play a role in spreading awareness among their workers and the general public.
He said that the private education sector is already suffering from difficulties. If they remain closed, more schools would end operations. The school owners were not receiving any financial assistance from the government. As a result, the number of out of school children would be increased while Pakistan has the second-largest out-of-school children population in the world.
“We have to complete the ongoing session years while exams would be held in the next two or three months. Therefore, the committee should also consider the best interest of students and parents,” he concluded.
Among other associations which oppose the recent NCOC decision were included All Sindh Private Schools and Colleges Association, All Private Schools Management Association Sindh, Peak Private School Association, Private Schools Management Association, Alliance of Private Schools Sindh, Association of Private Schools Sind, Pakistan Academic Consortium, Hadeed Private Schools Association, Karachi Private Schools Federation, Friends Private Schools Association.
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