PESHAWAR: Heads of private educational institutions have sought exemption from enforcing labour laws at their respective institutions.

The demand was raised by leaders of various private educational institutions associations at a joint press conference at the press club here on Monday.

Those present on the occasion included All Pakistan Private Schools Association (APPSA) leaders Dr Zakir Shah (Peshawar), Dr Babar (Islamabad), Shaikh Ashraf Raja (Punjab), Chaudhry Iqbal (Kashmir), Private Educational Institutions Management Association (PEIMA), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa central president Abdul Aziz Khan, and National Education Council (NEC) deputy chairman Nazar Hussain.

The heads of educational institutions also rejected the security plan announced in the wake of the attack on Army Public School, Peshawar, describing it as employable, and asked the provincial government to ensure protection of schools through proactive role of law-enforcement agencies.

NEC deputy chairman Nazar Hussain stressed the need for declaring the private educational institutions as welfare institutions.

He said that imposition of labour laws wasn’t applicable on private educational institutions in light of a verdict of the Supreme Court in which it was clearly mentioned that private educational institutions were not industries or running for commercial purposes.

Therefore, he said there was no justification to bind the private educational institutions to enforce labour laws. He asked the government to amend the relevant law implemented by the previous government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“All private educational institutions in the country should be run under the Education Foundation Act, Mr Hussain demanded, adding that the foundation needed to be strengthened in all the federating units. He also demanded representation of private educational institutions in all the education foundations, education boards, and education commission.

Nazar Hussain demanded of the government to extend the foreign aid to the private educational institutions as well, as it was meant for promotion and reforms in the education sector. He also asked the provincial government to allot plots and alternate locations to private educational institutions in Hayatabad Township.

Speaking on the occasion, APPSA central president Dr Babar suggested the constitution of reforms screening committee comprising members from government and private schools associations to bring transparency and accountability in the existing examination system at all education boards.

He said the private educational institutions had a major role in promotion of quality education in line with the global commitments in education sector.

Similarly, Dr Babar said that over 300,000 private educational institutions had been offering quality education to 0.3 million students in the country.

He said over 30,000 teachers and other staff had been employed at the private educational institutions, and that’s why they should be declared as social welfare institutions.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play