Coronavirus: Around 500 low-fee private schools in Sindh may not be able to reopen

• The private school associations fear that around 500 low-fee private schools across Sindh will not be able to reopen.
  
• School owners have been frequently reporting dropouts, the rate of which has been estimated to be between 20% and 25% of the enrolled students.
  
• 300 private schools alone are from Karachi. They have shut down due to the ongoing-pandemic and its mitigations.
  

Given the adverse effects of the rising numbers of COVID-19 infections during the second wave of the virus, authorities have raised a concern that around 500 low-fee private schools across Sindh will not be able to reopen after the calamity is over.

Among the 500 low-fee private schools, 300 private schools are from Karachi alone. They have shut down due to the ongoing pandemic.

According to a report published in The News, the All Private Schools Management Association (APSMA) and the All Sindh Private Schools & Colleges Association (ASPSCA) said majority of these schools had been running in underprivileged areas.

They said owners and administrators of hundreds of other constituent schools have been approaching the associations for financial assistance, but they are not in any position to help them and save the futures of thousands of students.

The associations said permanent shutdowns of schools will raise the number of out-of-school children if the authorities concerned do not take any concrete measures.

Read more: Schools reopening in Pakistan: What can we learn from other countries?

ASPCA Chairperson Haider Ali said: As an association, we only provide legal assistance and technical support and help the member schools improve teaching and learning activities.

He said his association is gathering data of the schools whose owners are unable to run their institutions after the suspension of educational activities during the second wave of Covid-19.

He, however, pointed out that his association has not finalised the data of closed institutions yet. “Such extensive work needs time to complete.”

Increase in school drop-outs

APSMA Sindh Chairperson Syed Tariq Shah said low-fee private schools keep closing for good because they have to pay rent, salaries, utility bills, and taxes out of the collected fees.

However, Shah pointed out, parents have been refusing to pay the fees for the last nine or so months, while none of the authorities has been taking these issues seriously.

Read more: Low-cost private schools may not be able to survive coronavirus pandemic

School owners have also been frequently reporting dropouts, the rate of which has been estimated to be between 20% and 25% of the enrolled students, he said, warning that the dire situation will keep increasing the number of Pakistan’s out-of-school children.

He then quoted Unicef’s statistics, according to which, Pakistan is ranked second on the list of countries where kids are not getting an education.