LAHORE: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Emir Sirajul Haq lamented that the government has not developed any policy for the resumption of academic activities as schools, colleges and universities have been closed for four months.

Addressing a session held under the aegis of National Association for Education and Private School Association here on Sunday, the senator said it seemed the government had no solution to minimise the disruption in education due to the outbreak of Covid-19.

Educational institutions, he said, had been closed since Feb 24, but no official plan had been chalked out for their reopening. He said over 1.5 million teachers were feared to lose their jobs besides causing irreparable loss to education of millions of students if the closure continued for an unspecified period.

Therefore, he emphasised, the authorities should immediately sit down with private school owners and frame a plan to resume educational activities. There was no logic in keeping private schools closed after reopening of markets, transport and other activities, he added.

The JI chief said it had become impossible for thousands of teachers in the private sector to make both ends meet, as they were sitting at home without salaries. He asked the government to compensate teachers from the Rs1,200 billion coronavirus package. The government should stop the “step-motherly treatment” meted out to teachers and announce a relief package for them, he stated.

Mr Haq said the confused statements issued by the prime minister and his team almost daily damaged the national solidarity. This is not the time to create an environment of uncertainty rather the need of the hour to bring the nation out of the crisis, he added.

Education experts Shahid Warsi, Hidayat Khan and JI Information Secretary Qaisar Sharif also attended the sitting. — Staff Reporter