Schools’ strike: Schools warned of strict action for joining strike

Schools’ federation says there will be no classes on March 8, 9. However, exams will proceed as per schedule

LAHORE: The provincial government will soon form a committee to review the grievances of private schools. It will also take strict action against schools that remain closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, a spokesperson for Education Minister Rana Mashhood told The Express Tribune on Monday.

The spokesperson hoped that majority of the private schools would remain open.

However, the All Pakistan Private Schools Federation (APPSF) reiterated its stance that schools affiliated with it would remain closed on Tuesday and Wednesday to protest the recently enacted law regulating tuition fee revision procedure at private schools in the province.

All schools affiliated with the federation would remain closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, APPSF president Kashif Mirza told The Tribune on Monday.

However, he said, the schools were not expected to cancel mock examinations for ninth and tenth grades and O- and A-levels. He said cancellation of examinations could affect students’ progress to the next academic year. The schools could not be expected to risk the academic progress of their students, he said.

He said the schools had tried to convey their grievances to the government but its response was not encouraging. Asked if the federation could reconsider the decision, he said it was not likely and that the protest would continue till the withdrawal of the Punjab Private Educational Institutions (Promotion and Regulation) Bill (Amended) 2015. However, he said, the federation would be willing to speak to the chief minister. “We have forwarded our demands to his office,” he said.

On Monday, the Private Schools Parents Association (PSPA) expressed concerns over the federation’s decision to not hold classes for two days.

PSPA president Faisal Khalid Sheikh said the decision to not hold classes was an attempt at blackmailing the parents. He said the parents’ association would extend full support to the government for the implementation of the newly enacted law.

Referring to letters received by some parents from schools administrations, he said schools were threatening to suspend all extra-curricular activities and to cut back on other facilities on their campuses.

A member of the association who identified herself as Maria told The Tribune that a letter she received from her children’s school had said that if the law was implemented the school would consider wrapping up professional development programmes, increasing class sizes, ending financial assistance and scholarships, limiting the number of subject offered and cutting back on sports and co-curricular activities.

The letter, a copy of which is available with The Tribune, read, “We deeply regret the impact that this decision will have on students. Private schools have taken the decision not out of choice but because of the constraints imposed upon them by the law”.

It further said, “provision of quality education comes at a cost… it requires an investment in human resources”.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2016.