PESHAWAR: Parents and teachers of the students enrolled in the PakTurk International Schools and Colleges have warned they will agitate if the federal government hands over the educational institutions in question to a Turkey-based NGO for management.

Owais Bilal, Dr Mohammad Zubair, Siddique Shinwari and Sher Mohammad told reporters at the Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday that the NGO, Maarif Foundation, was poorlyequipped and therefore, the proposed handing over of the Pak-Turk schools to it would imperil the future of the students.

They said the proposed `irrational` step on part of the federal government was meant to please the Turkish government.

The parents and teachers said they`re upset by the bids to accuse Pak-Turk schools of political and terrorist linkages, which would stigmatise and jeopardise the future of students.

They warned they would agitate and pull children out if the schools were handed over to the Turkish NGO for management.

The parents also said the NGO didn`t understand the educational systems prevalent in the country.

Mr Bilal said the country had 28 Pak-Turk Schools and Colleges in more than 10 cities with 1,700 staff members, including 108 Turkish teachers, and around 12,000 pre-school to A Level students.

He said since 1995, the Pak-Turk schools had been giving quality education to Pakistani students with no political motivation or illegal activity but the future of their students was at stake.

Dr Zubair claimed that the schools earlier handed over to the Maarif Foundation had been closed due to its inability to operate them.

The parents and teachers claimed the Punjab`s counterterrorism department was pressuring the chairman of the Pak-Turl( Schools and Colleges to resign in a bid to ensure the smooth handing over of those educational institutions to the Turkish NGO.