Private schools seek interest free loan for surival

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Chairman of the All Private Schools Management Association Sindh (APSMAS), Syed Tariq Shah, who is also Secretary General of the National Educational Council Pakistan (NECP), fears closure of privately-run educational institutions if parents do not pay tuition fee.

In a statement issued in Karachi on March 31, he also demanded of the federal government to provide interest free loans to private educational institutions in order to enable them to overcome the current crises by temporarily meeting their expenditures. 

He appealed to parents to pay tuition fee regularly every month so that private institutions would not suffer badly and would survive in such crisis situation. 

He didn't mince words in stating that it would be very difficult for the private educational institutes to survive in such crisis situations and not only there would be possibility of unemployment of staff but also the future of millions of students could be at risk because tuition fee is the only source of income for institutions and the revenue collected through the tuition fee is being used to pay staff’s salaries, building rent, utility bills and government taxes. 

Tariq Shah advised the private school administrations to provide a payment solution in terms of easy installments for those parents who are unable to pay tuition fees on a monthly basis due to severe economic constraints. 

While appreciating the measures taken by the government to deal with Coronavirus (COVID-19), he stated that private institutes were supporting the government in every step taken and desire them to focus solely on the eradication of the virus and treatment of its victims so that the pandemic could be controlled in Pakistan including Sindh and normal routine life would be resumed soon. 

He pointed out that the private education sector was actively supporting the government to upgrade the standard of education and literacy rate by providing quality education. 

“The private institutions are not only the source of employment for millions of people but also paying a huge amount of revenue to government as taxes, therefore if these institutions would be closed, then not only the future of students will be at risk, thousands of staff will be unemployed as well as government will not get revenue in terms of tax which would result in new educational crisis,” Tariq Shah warned.