Private body voices concerns over extension in closure of schools in Sindh

• If the government does not open schools on August 23, the private sector would shift the education system to outdoor schooling, says APSMAS.
• Educational institutions are functioning all over the country, apart from Sindh, says Syed Tariq Shah.
• Around 600,000 children have dropped out of government schools during the lockdown in Sindh.

KARACHI: Lashing out at the Sindh government, the All Private Schools Management Association Sindh (APSMAS) voiced its concern over extension in the closure of educational institutions in the province, The News reported.

In view of the ongoing surge in COVID-19 positive cases, the government on Friday announced that the educational institutions would stay closed in the province till August 30.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, in a statement, had said schools would not be reopened on August 23, and teachers, staff and parents should be vaccinated during this week.

“It has been decided to reopen universities, colleges and schools after 10 days. They would be opened on August 30,” he had said.

Later, in an emergency meeting chaired by APSMAS Chairman Syed Tariq Shah expressed concerns over the announcement.

He said, “If the government does not restore education on August 23, the private education sector would shift the education system to outdoor schooling. Today, the APSMAS is announcing a Taleem Bachao Tehreek (Movement to Rescue Education) across the province.”

“Educational institutions are functioning all over the country, apart from Sindh. Why are only the children of Sindh deprived of education?” the APSMAS leaders asked.

They demanded that those schools whose 100% staffers, including teachers, had got Covid vaccination should be allowed to reopen on August 23 as per the decision taken in a meeting of the School Education and Literacy Department’s Steering Committee earlier this week.

In the meeting, the health minister had also given permission to open schools on August 23, he said, adding that educational institutions should open with 50% attendance, 100% vaccination, and strict compliance with the COVID-19 standard operating procedures.

During the meeting, the members had also discussed the dropout ratio. It was revealed that around 600,000 children had dropped out of government schools during the lockdown. Private schools have completed 95% vaccination of their staffers, while this ratio is about 80% for public schools.

One million new children have not been able to attend school for the past two years, and the provincial government is continuously disrupting education for the third consecutive year, said the APSMAS leaders.

“We want immediate reopening of schools.”

JI opposes closure of schools  

The Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) Sindh leadership has also opposed the provincial government’s move of extending the closure of schools.

Commenting on the government’s decision, Muhammad Azeem Siddiqui, the head of the JI Sindh education chapter, said that the provincial government had made education a joke and it had no regard for the views of teachers, students and parents.

“At the meeting of the steering committee on August 17, the provincial education ministry announced the reopening of the schools, but the non-issuance of a notification at that time was proof that the government was cheating the school owners,” he said.

Siddiqui recalled that on August 17, the health minister had no objection to the reopening of schools. He added that just three days later, “coronavirus's ghost has taken over again.”

The JI leader said that the Sindh government had first shut down the schools on the pretext that teachers had not been vaccinated. “And now it is again closing them down by imposing a condition that parents should be vaccinated.”

He added that online education was not an alternative to learning in schools.