Rawalpindi: The Divisional President of All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association(APPSMA), Rawalpindi, Abrar Ahmed Khan while addressing a press conference in Rawalpindi Press Club has urged the government to announce relief package for private school before it is too late.
He told the hurriedly called press conference that more than 400 private schools have closed down as they cannot sustain, pay rents of buildings, disburse salary of staff and pay utility bills in the absence of receipts of fee. APPSMA has given 20% concession to the parents in tuition fee but the parents are not coming forward to pay their dues.
He asked the government to open the schools as soon as possible without waiting for 15 July, lest more than 50% schools are shut down. In other countries wherever, lockdown was lifted, schools were the first ones to open.
The Divisional President was accompanied by Malik Iftikhar Hussain, Chaudhary Atta Muhammad, Skina Taj, Rafique Qureshi and other office bearers. He asked the government to include Practical Marks in the result of Tenth and FSc as the students are not happy and may miss the opportunity to get admissions in good universities. He implored the government to facilitate the Private Schools by providing interest free loans so that they may be able to pay the staff and rents of buildings.
He told the reporters that more than twenty million students were studying in more than two lakh Private Schools. If the Schools are not reopened it is feared that more than 500,000 teachers and support staff may face unemployment, who are sole bread earners for more than 5 million dependents. It is feared that if not all more than 80% of private schools catering to the lower strata of the society will close down. It will not be possible for the government to make arrangements for more twenty million students who will be out of schools.
