ISLAMABAD: The directives issued by Private Institutions Regulatory Authority (PIRA), regarding security arrangements to be made by schools has put the future of charity schools in jeopardy.

Administrators of schools providing free education to disadvantaged children said their institutions run on charity and because of funding constraints they are unable to follow the directives issued by PIRA.

Through a notification, PIRA directed all schools to construct non-scalable wall of at least 8 feet high with two feet of concertina razor wire on top, deploy trained security guards and install Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras and walkthrough gates.

The schools were instructed to ensure adherence to the above mentioned checklist, “irrespective of location and scale.”

In the letter PIRA warns that schools must obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the district magistrate after they have satisfactorily completed all security arrangements allowing them to reopen after winter vacation. The letter warns that failure to comply with the directives will lead to cancellation of registration.

Owners of charity schools said it is near impossible to make the elaborate security arrangements they are being expected to make.

Jannat-ul-Firdous, who runs a charity school at Satra Meel near Bhara Kahu said: “My school provides free education to 260 students and runs on support from family and friends. Now, I am being asked to hire a security guard and take other costly security measures. This is simply ridiculous,” she said.

“The government is discouraging me and forcing me to shut down this school,” she said.

Like Jannat-ul-Firdous, Zeba Hussain, who runs Mashal Model School at Bari Imam which provides free education to street children said PIRA’s directive made no sense. “I have dedicated my life to provide education to street children. The school has 500 children who pay no fees. I do not have any funds to take security measures in the line with PIRA’s directive. Schools like ours should be exempted,” she said.

Ms Hussain said that if necessary, police personnel should be deployed to protect the school.

Tughral Yamin, a retired Brigadier, who runs charity school in Mehrabadi is also worried since receiving the letter from PIRA.

“My wife and I run a charity school in Mehrabadi, Islamabad which is a profusion of shantytowns and slums today. Our aim is to educate poor children of this area, to prevent them from falling prey to crime or terrorism or both. PIRA’s directive is highly discouraging for us,” he said.

Brigadier Yamin said in the light of the attack on a school in Peshawar on December 16, the underlying spirit of enhancing the security at private schools is appreciable. However, the demands placed on a school like theirs, with no regular funding from the government or non-governmental organizations (NGOs), are beyond their reach and hence impractical to implement.

He said PIRA’s letter gave an impression that the government is absolving itself of its primary duty to provide security to its citizens and leaving the private schools, particularly those that are not being run on commercial basis to fend for themselves.

“The letter is far from reassuring. We have been told in no uncertain terms that security is our responsibility. We don’t have the funds to undertake the security measures that PIRA wants and now there is an additional bureaucratic hurdle to cross-obtain an NOC to operate after winter vacation, or else our registration will be withdrawn. We are in a fix.” he said.

Speaking to Dawn, Dr Afzal Babur, the president of Private School Network, said by issuing the letter, PIRA had discouraged administrators of charity schools.

He said all these schools should be exempted and the government should come forward and provide security to these schools.

“There are close to 40 such schools in Islamabad. These schools are providing a public service and doing what the government should have been doing in the first place,” he said.

When contacted Imtiaz Qureshi, Chairman PIRA defended the letter.

He said due to security threats, no school would be allowed to run without taking proper security measures. When asked how a charity school could afford hiring of security gates and purchasing costly equipments, he said “Charity schools receive funding from NGOs, so it should be no problem for them. However, the cases of schools that have no source of income could be reviewed,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2014