Private school bodies from across Pakistan meet

Say orders to shift educational institutions from cantonment areas is unjust in the last quarter of session

KARACHI:

An emergency meeting of representatives of private schools associations from across Pakistan was held on the issue of transferring of schools from cantonment areas.

The physical and online participants demanded of the Supreme Court, the army chief and the prime minister that the provision of essential civic amenities in proportion to the population, including education, was a clear and unambiguous constitutional and universal humanitarian right.

Due to the increase in population, government schools have not been established in all of Pakistan. Areas adjoining the cantonment have now become a complete residential and urban population.

Therefore, the military and civic and residential boundaries of the cantonment boards should be redefined so that the process of providing basic facilities like education can be continued. Thousands of schools, their teachers, millions of children and their parents are in a state of great uncertainty.

With the last quarter of the academic year remaining, the hassle of interrupting the educational process is not justified. Amenity plots have not been provided to the schools for decades. In such cases, relocating schools out of specific plots or areas is not feasible.

The meeting was hosted by All Sindh Private Schools and Colleges Association in which Malik Abrar Hussain of All Pakistan Private Schools and Colleges Association, Nazar Hussain of National Education Council of Pakistan, Dr. Afzal Babar of Private Schools Network, Tariq Shah of Pakistan Alliance of Private Schools Associations, Kashif Adib Jawdani of All Pakistan Private Schools and Colleges Management Association, Razaur Rehman of Serving Schools and Colleges Association of Pakistan, Malik Azhar Mehmood of Joint Action Committee for Cantonment Boards, Akhtar Arain, representative of Kashif Mirza of All Pakistan Private Schools Federation, Muhammad Saleem Khan of Private Education Network, Aqeel Razzaq of Hub of Private Education, Muzammil Khan of Private Educational Institutions Management Association, Abdul Aziz of Cantt Schools Association, Muhammad Nawaz of Balochistan Iqra & Private Schools Association, Khawaja Abdul Hanan of Private Schools Association Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Nazar Waraich of Grand Alliance of Private Schools Associations Balochistan, Saleem Nasir of Balochistan Progressive Private Schools Association, Jamil Yousuf of Trust Schools Sindh, Zubair Ahmed of Educational Services and Private Schools Association, Shehzad Akhtar of Pack Private Schools Association, Nasir Zaidi of Pakistan Academic Consortium, Danish-uz-Zaman of Private Schools Management Association, Shehzad Akbar of the Private Schools Association and Dost Muhammad Danish of All Sindh Private Schools and Colleges Association participated.