Private schools have become favourite whipping boys of all & sundry. They are called “mafia” by the parents, politicians & the judiciary. Interestingly, come admission time and one sees long queues of parents outside these “mafia” schools anxious to get their kids entrusted to the very “mafia”.
Is the hypocrisy not jarring? Education is a fundamental right of every child. In all countries of the world, governments work to provide education through government schools. Not so in Pakistan. Here provincial governments abuse education budgets for corruption to line their pockets. Hence, we sadly hear of “ghost schools”. The government & the worthy Supreme Court believe that it is the responsibility of the private sector to fulfil the global requirement of education for all.
Not only should the private sector assume this responsibility, it should do so on terms to be dictated by the education ministers & the judiciary. All sectors of the economy may earn abnormal profits but the private schools should earn a pittance for education is not a business. One is constrained to ask why private schools are being destroyed when the govt itself is incapable of providing basic education of reasonable quality? Do parents realize their targeting of schools is like cutting the tree branch on which they are themselves sitting.
Maaz Abbasi
Karachi
