ISLAMABAD: The Private Schools Supreme Council has demanded the federal government allow in-person classes to be held at campuses from January 11.
The council’s office-bearers in a statement said that the government should allow classes to resume at campuses on January 11 and even if it didn’t, schools would reopen from January 11.
The government provided relief to all other sectors but unfortunately, educational institutions were completely ignored, they regretted it.
The council leaders said it is the only part that provided a 20 to 40 percent discount on its fees, adding that the government needed to understand their problems and take steps to resolve them.
They also demanded relief for small-time educational institutions in electricity and water bills. They said education and healthcare played a significant role in the development of a country but unfortunately, the two areas had never been the priority of any government in Pakistan.
Citing a recent report of UNICEF, Supreme Council leader Dr. Afzal Babar said the future of more than 40 million students in Pakistan was at risk due to the closure of educational institutions.
Criticizing online education, he said 80% of the schoolchildren were poor hence they did not have access to it. “The difference between other countries and Pakistan is that the conclusion of schools was the last option for them, while here in our country this is the first option,” he added.
He said at least 80 percent of educational institutes in the country did not have access to the Internet and that several have closed their doors and many others are following the suit.
The council members demanded of students of Punjab, Balochistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir should also be allowed to attend school at least once a week on the pattern of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, and Sindh and that educational institutions be reopened with full SOPs to save the future of students.
The upcoming meeting of education ministers is expected to mull the reopening of educational institutions in three phases. The federal government, on the recommendation of the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), had closed educational institutions from November 26, 2020, to January 10, 2021.
