THE recent closure of educational institutions, especially schools, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic has been welcomed by a majority of parents who were concerned about their children’s safety.

However, it is disturbing to note that some private schools have deducted the salaries of their staff by more than 20 per cent and are forcing the non-teaching staff, such as music, art and physical education instructors, to take only one class a week so they do not have to be paid for the whole month.

Many schools, to cut down on their expenditure, are also laying off their employees, especially janitors and peons, without any warning or notice. This is sheer injustice to those who have to run their homes and have families to look after.

The school managements should reconsider their decisions. A school that is charging full fee from its students, has been functional for over 30 years and has hundreds of branches, can easily afford to pay full salaries to their staff in these critical times.

Reducing the number of branches operating on rental premises and cutting salaries of senior management, who may have savings to manage during these difficult times, can help them meet their expenses. But asking the non-teaching staff to bear the brunt of the critical economic situation these days is unfair.

I hope our organisations will realise that the people from underprivileged segments of society need to feed their families too.

Suha Kamil
Karachi

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2020