Playing victim: Crestfallen educators stage anti-PEF demo

Protestors vow to continue agitation

LAHORE: A disgruntled group of aspiring Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) partner school owners on Thursday staged a demo against the PEF.

The private school proprietors took to the streets after their applications were rejected by the foundation. The demonstrators gathered at Liberty Chowk and blocked it for one hour. They demanded the foundation review its Foundation Assisted School (FAS) Phase X policy.

The aforementioned policy stipulates that no school can partner with the foundation if it happens to be situated within one kilometre of any public, private or PEF partner school. The protesters said this provision was tyrannical. They said there was no such provision in Phase IX. The demonstrators said they deserved to be treated on an equal footing vis-a-vis other PEF partner schools. They said they had been striving to facilitate the provision of quality education. The demonstrators said this policy, however, would prove detrimental when it came to the number of those interested in partnering with the foundation. They said they would continue their agitation till the PEF tweaked the policy and allowed them to apply for PEF school status.

A PEF spokesperson told The Express Tribune that the stipulation had been clearly mentioned in an advertisement. He said those who had now taken to the streets had agreed before submitting applications to abide by all terms and conditions. The spokesperson said the stipulation had been introduced in a bid to expand the area covered by the foundation.

He said the one-kilometre rule would ensure that education became accessible to all and schools were located within walking distance from children’s homes. The spokesperson revealed that over 250 school proprietors had managed to qualify for the PEF FAS Phase X.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10^th, 2016.