PESH AWA R: The Private Education Network (PEN) has expressed its concern over the disaf filiation of two private schools by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Abbottabad, and set one week deadline to the provincial government for restoring affiliation of the institutions.

It warned that in case otherwise the teachers, parents and students of all private schools will hold a protest against the government`s action.

Speaking at a press conference at Peshawar Press Club on Thursday, PEN provincial president Saleem Khan said that he had objected to changes in the syllabus and also opposed the government`s plan regarding assessment of 5th grade students and thus his school`s affiliation with the BISE, Abbottabad, was severed.

Flanked by other officebearers of the network, including its vice-president Amjad Ali Shah, Attaur Rahman, Fazlullah Daudzai and Dr Zakir, he said that another school owned by Tahir Afridi, PEN`s general secretary, was also disaffiliated in Haripur.

`We have already rejected the action taken by the Abbottabad board and will move court against it.

In addition,wewilllaunch a countrywide movement against it as it relates to the future of students and jobs of staff,` he said.

Mr Saleem said that PEN had already raised voice against the changes in syllabus and that was why thegovernment wanted to pressurise the educationists through such tactics to stop objections to the changes.

Many of the changes in syllabus, he claimed, were related to the religion, Islamic history and national interests, and as such the owners of private educational institutions could not remain silent over such issues.

He suggested that the grade 5th assessment should be introduced in government schools as a pilot project to see its results and then it would be followed by the private institutions. He said that the assessment had been made optional for private institutions in Punjab to avoid complications.

Dr Zakir, who leads private schools association in Peshawar, also opposed the changes in syllabus and assessment tests of 5th grade students, terming it a futile exercise.

`We have given suggestions for formation of syllabus, transparency and improvement of the education standard, but the government is least bothered to give any positive response, he lamented.

He alleged that the government was bent on destroying the entire education system by bringing changes in the syllabus through NGOs to follow agenda of its foreign masters, which, he said, was not acceptable to them.

They said that the government should restore affiliation of the schools under Abbottabad board and resolve the issues through negotiations to avert any possible confrontation.

The educational institutions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said, had already suffered due to terrorism and the government should support them in imparting quality e ducation to the students.