Court asked to ban trips for under-10s

Petition filed in LHC seeking a ban on schools arranging field trips for students under the age of 10.

LAHORE:

A petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court seeking a ban on schools arranging field trips for students under the age of 10.

The petitioner, Advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddique, argued that in the wake of the accident at Kallar Kahar that left 37 people dead, mostly children, out-of-town school trips for young students should be banned.

He said that the accident at Kallar Kahar was due to “criminal negligence” on the part of school authorities, transporters, transport authorities, Motorway Police and the government departments concerned.

Siddique said private schools were “minting money” from parents on school trips. He said some schools threatened to expel kids whose parents did not allow them to go on trips. He said private schools were an important part of the education system, but they must be kept “under microscopic observation” so that events like the accident at Kallar Kahar do not happen again.

He asked the court to direct the Education Department to instruct all schools not to arrange out-of-town trips for children aged 10 or under.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2011.