Protest against regulatory bill: Private schools in Malakand, Hazara to remain shut tomorrow

PEN says bill an attempt to bring private schools under government’s control.

SWAT:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Private Education Network (PEN) has announced to close all private schools in Malakand and Hazara Division on December 8, to mark their protest against the proposed K-P Private Schools Regulatory Authority Bill 2012.

This was stated by PEN Provincial President Muhammad Salim Khan in a press release issued by the network on Thursday.

He said the bill calls for establishing a parallel regulatory body in addition to the one that is “largely politically motivated.” He said the Awami National Party-led government is bent upon destroying the structure of private institutions.

“The bill is an attempt of the provincial government to bring private schools under its control and we unanimously reject it,” said PEN Provincial Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Shah, while addressing a conference at the Swat Press Club. He said while education is the right of every child, funds for education are being spent on extravagance by the rulers, depriving hundreds of thousands of children of their right.



“Despite the government’s inefficiency, the private sector is performing its duty of educating children. But instead of appreciating that, the government is bent on discouraging us,” said Shah. He added that the bill, which will soon be presented in the assembly, is proof of this bias.

Under the regulatory bill, an 18-member committee will be formed in which only three members will be from the private schools. In addition to the lack of representation, the committee will be headed by the education minister, indicating that the government will use private schools for their own political agenda, Shah added. He feared that teachers’ appointments will be dealt with politically, as is the case in other government sectors.



Furthermore, the committee will be entitled to take disciplinary action against the schools, including issuance of fines up to Rs200,000 and imprisonment of school heads for up to two years, and the schools will not be able to submit appeals in any court, he said.

Shah said the private school owners have invested millions of rupees to set up the institutes, through which they are providing quality education to the citizens and minimising the burden of illiteracy. He said not only do the private schools reject the bill but also term it “anti-education.”

The K-P Private Schools Regulatory Bill was approved by the cabinet of the Provincial Assembly on October 2 and it will be
tabled in the assembly on December 10.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2012.