Private school reps march on D-Chowk today

Islamabad : The representatives of the countrywide private educational institutions along with teachers and staff members will march on D-Chowk here this morning (Thursday) against the government's restriction on in-person classes.

According to All Pakistan Private Schools and Colleges Association central president Malik Abrar Hussain, the march participants will reach D-Chowk at 11am using their respective routes.

They will include students and their parents, traders, civil society members, school van owners and drivers and stationery dealers.

He told reporters here that the prolonged closure of private schools’ by the government had forced their representatives and other stakeholders to take to the streets to claim the rights.

Malik Abrar said the government was managing the important education sector through ‘trial and error' and thus, denying children and youth an easy access to education.

He claimed that by and large, educational institutions observed coronavirus-related SOPs and recorded far fewer cases compared to other sectors.

The APPSCA president said it was ironic that the markets, which caused spread of the virus, were open but educational institutions had been closed in an act of conspiracy against the cause of education.

He said the matriculation and intermediate examinations were just around the corner and that learning losses caused by the prolonged campus closures won’t be covered.

“Students and their parents will join our [private schools’] long march if the government does not reverse decision on school closures,” he said.

Malik Abrar flayed the government for breaking its promise of providing interest-free loans to the teachers and small school owners and relief to the private educational institution during the last lockdown.

He demanded financial assistance for educational institutions, which had remained closed during the pandemic, and relief for teachers rendered jobless.