LAHORE: Private schools, including the elite, in Punjab will remain closed for two days (March 8 and 9) to lodge their protest against the Punjab Private Educational Institutions (Promotion and Regulation Amendment) Bill 2015.

Under the new legislation the private schools cannot increase fee up to five per cent annually and that too with the approval of government representatives.

Representatives of the elite chain schools -- the Pakistan Education Council (PEC) -- and the others, All-Pakistan Private Schools Federation (APPSF) jointly announced here on Sunday to close the private schools on Tuesday and Wednesday against what they called ‘draconian new law’.

“We have decided to shut schools across the Punjab for two days to strongly register our protest against the draconian new law which is aimed at strangulating and not regulating the private schools.

“This initial closure may soon lead to an indefinite shutdown of all private schools in Punjab. We deeply regret the impact that this will have on the children but this difficult decision has been taken because our schools can no longer afford to sustain their operations,” a spokesman for both organisations said.

“In the present scenario, the provision of quality education in Punjab is no longer possible. Private schools have come together to fight for the survival of a sector that has made a massive contribution to this country.

We are left with no option but to start reducing overheads, which will inevitably impact our services and facilities. The responsibility for this lies primarily with the Punjab government. We urge all Pakistani citizens who want their children to have access to the best education to reject this new legislation so that the private sector may continue to provide quality education for future generations,” he said.

Kamran Malik, who represents PEC, told Dawn that the Punjab government had got the Punjab Private Educational Institutions (Promotion and Regulation Amendment) Bill 2015 passed from the Punjab Assembly without amendments proposed by a committee to review the private schools affairs.

“The government converted the ordinance of the Punjab Private Educational Institutions (Promotion and Regulation Amendment) Ordinance 2015 into legislation showing an utter disregard to the proposals of private schools especially regarding fee issue,” he said.

Mr Malik said: “Most private schools have been unable to revise salaries of teachers and the staff in 2015-16 to their utter disappointment, a factor that in itself spells disaster for quality teaching. The government had introduced the new law without considering the ground realities.

Private schools are collectively the largest employers of professional women in the private sector of Pakistan. Many of whom are wholly dependent on their income and the educational concessions offered to their children by such schools.

The private schools have urged the government either to withdraw the new law or bring necessary amendments to it to address their concerns otherwise they will continue their protest.

In last September apparently responding to the public outcry over enhanced fees, the Punjab government promulgated the Punjab Private Educational Institutions (Promotion and Regulation Amendment) Ordinance 2015 to regulate the affairs of the private schools.

The law stipulated that school fees could not be raised at all in the 2015-16 school year while fee increases in subsequent years were capped at a maximum of 5pc.

“It is believed that the Ordinance was an ill-considered and knee-jerk response to some complaints received against a small handful of private schools -- resulting in all 90,000 private schools across the province being tarred with the same brush.

Private schools raised this matter with the Punjab government and at the latter’s request agreed to be part of a special committee constituted by the chief minister with a view to finding a way forward through consultation with all stakeholders including parents. But in the end the draconian law was introduced unilaterally,” the spokesman said.

Last month the private schools in Punjab shut down the campuses for a day to protest against ‘harassment’ by government officials in the name of poor security measures.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2016