The All Pakistan Private Schools’ Association has threatened the government for opposing its decision to open schools from August 15, stating if they started a campaign the “government would fall”. “If the government tries to interfere in our matters, we will do a million march,” the association’s head warned at a press conference in Islamabad.
The All Pakistan Private Schools’ Association announced a day ago that schools will reopen from August 15, despite government orders that schools would be allowed to open from September 15 provided cases continued to decline.
At a press conference in Islamabad on Monday, representatives from schools and associations around the country, discussed problems faced due to closure of educational institutions. They said they would open the schools as per standard operating procedures (SOPs).
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 coronavirus relief measures. 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]”.
Khan cautioned that if schools were not reopened [soon], then 50pc of private schools would be permanently closed and hundreds of thousands of people would be rendered unemployed.
Source: Dawn
Inflics provides it readers the information that they need in concise and short articles, making information and news more accessible to everyone.
