Private schools demand govt to open schools from Aug 15

PESHAWAR: All Pakistan Private Schools Federation has rejected the announcement made by the conference of education ministers about reopening of all schools in the country on September 15.

The Federation President demanded the government to announce reopening of schools from August 15. He said the private schools will be compelled to open their institutions on their own if the government did not pay head to their repeated requests. He said in a statement that a legal cell has been set up to ensure protection for the private educational institutions which will reopen on August 15. He said a long march will be held if the government created impediments for the private educational institutions.

The Federation president said private schools must also be opened like other institutions under the standard operating procedures (SOPs). He said about 70 million students in the country are deprived of their constitutional right.

The demand for immediate reopening of schools has gained momentum from owners of private educational institutions particularly after visible decline in coronavirus cases in Pakistan.

The announcement by the private schools came a day after a meeting chaired by Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood in the federal capital on video-link decided to reopen all the schools on September 15. The schools are closed for several months due to the fears of spread of coronavirus.

During the meeting of the education ministers Wednesday, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government proposed reopening of educational institutions from September 01. However, this proposal was not supported by other participants of the meeting.

Some fake news were also circulating on the social media about reopening of schools from August 15. However, the officials clarified that such news were not authentic.

Even after September 15, the schools, colleges and universities will have to observe SOPs for preventing the spread of coronavirus. The SOPs include not more than 20 students in classroom, proper distance between students, different shifts to ensure social distancing, use of facemasks, sanitizers, checking of temperature etc. Gatherings and functions will also remain banned in schools.

The private educational institutions have also been made bound to arrange these facilities within their own budget and not to charge from parents. However, keeping in view the track record of private educational institutions in Pakistan, implementation of these SOPs will be a big challenge for the government.