Carrie Davies
BBC Pakistan correspondent
While Pakistan’s official statistics estimate that 46.5% of
students in the country are in private schools, the World Bank has estimated
that it’s higher, at around 49% or 21.7 million children.
Why so many?
Mariam Chughtai, former director of the National
Curriculum Council, says that parents often think the education received at
government schools is not good enough.
“Too many function as daytime holding spaces rather
than places of education,” she says.
“Parents know this. For a poor family, a child’s years
in a public school feel like lost time and lost future earnings. So they work
two or three jobs to pay the fee of a low-fee private school.”
But she says the education at these schools is not
guaranteed to be better and there’s not enough safety checks.
“Private schools must register, but inspection of
teaching quality or building safety is weak and rarely enforced. Many low-fee
schools run in converted houses, with extra floors added as enrolment
grows.”
“Until child safety is treated as non-negotiable, and
not as a line item to profit from, we will keep mourning tragedies like this
one,” she says.
