Early summer vacations : Private schools’ body moves court for withdrawal of notification

Association’s president argues private institutes cannot collect fee, pay salaries.

RAWALPINDI: The association of private schools has moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) challenging the provincial government’s decision to close schools for summer vacations earlier than the set date.

Justice Mirza Waqas Rauf of the LHC’s Rawalpindi bench will take up the petition filed by All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association (APPSMA) today (Monday), stated the association in a press release on Sunday.

Filed through Advocate Waqar Ahmed, APPSMA President Abrar Ahmed had maintained that the Punjab government closed all schools on a day’s notice creating problems for the private schools.

Citing secretary schools Punjab and executive district officers (education) of Rawalpindi, Attock, Chakwal, and Jhelum as respondents, the association said that the private schools could not conduct first term examinations of the students, scheduled for last week of May.

He added that schools could not also assign homework to their students for the summer vacations.

Abrar Ahmed, while talking to The Express Tribune said that the Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashood held a press conference on May 22 and announced that all schools across the province would be closed for summer vacations from May 24.

He said that the minister ordered closure of the schools giving them only a day to assign homework for summer vacations.

Abrar said that the hasty closure of educational institutes had created problems for the private schools.

He said that the private schools would not be able to collect fees for three months from students, adding that if the fees were not collected, schools would not be able to pay their staff and their utility bills.

Abrar further said that public school employees had no problem as the government would pay them their regular salaries.

He noted that it was difficult for private schools to collect fees for three months after students had stopped coming to school.

About policy of private schools on summer vacations, Abrar said that they had planned to close the schools on or before June 10.

He said that they wanted to hold examinations, assign homework and collect the fees before they released the students.

Abrar further said that the Punjab government had closed the school in the province but the federal government had not closed the schools in Islamabad.

He said that the Punjab government needed to end the discriminatory policy.

Abrar said that they had prayed before the LHC to set aside Punjab government’s notification.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2016.