JSSF demands opportunities for poor in private schools

Kalhoro demands ban on private schools, fee reduction, warns of strike

LARKANA: Jeay Sindh Students Federation (JSSF) president Ashraf Kalhoro demanded on Tuesday that the Sindh government impose a ban on private educational institutes, which he held responsible for "the existing disparity in education" and "discriminating" against the poor. As an alternative, he suggested that if the government could not meet the demand, then strict measures should be taken to reduce the tuition fee at private schools so that the underprivileged too could acquire quality education.

Addressing a press conference, he said that private educational institutes charged exorbitant fees, which prevented the poor from acquiring education. He claimed that among "all 250 private [educational] institutes of Larkana division, none had admitted any poor children," and said that "white-collar mafia, in the form of private institutes, had ruined the education system."

The JSSF president warned that if action against such institutes was not taken and none of the demands were met, JSSF would hold protests across Sindh, from March 8 to March 19.

He also criticised the Sindh government for its "lack of will and interest" in improving the situation and claimed that large-scale corruption in the education department had further aggravated matters.

"The education standards [at public schools in the province] have declined to such an extent that now even the poor do not want their children to study at government institutes," he said, adding that the current state was reflective of the "alarming situation."

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2020.