I RECENTLY met a driver who is trying to educate his children in a private school. He seemed to be quite upset. When I asked him the reason, he said it was over Pakistan’s educational system. He then added the following:

a. Why don’t we have a similar educational system in government and private schools?

b. Is there any institution to monitor the exploitation by private schools?

c. Is education a service to the nation or is it an industry where school owners run three to four different types of business from uniform shops to stationery shops, and from tuck shops to providing school buses/vans?

He said school uniforms were available at low prices in the market but they had to these at higher prices from the school itself because of its logo.

This was nothing but exploitation at its worst. It was exactly the same where exercise books and stationery were concerned. Students were charged by school vans even for their summer vacations. Again, it was exploitation at its worst.

He wanted the authorities concerned to look into all these issues.

Mir Anwar Shahzad

Society for Sustainable Development

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2015

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