Karachi’s private school administrations have withdrawn their planned protest and strike against the Anti-Corruption Department scheduled for Friday, following assurances given by Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah.
The decision came after representatives of private school organisations met the education minister to raise concerns over alleged harassment by anti-corruption officials. According to the Sindh Education Department spokesperson, the meeting was also attended by the Secretary Schools and Director Schools Rafia Javed.
During the meeting, private school representatives briefed the minister on their complaints related to the conduct of the Anti-Corruption Department. They expressed concerns over what they described as undue pressure and harassment faced by school administrations.
Education Minister Shah said the Anti-Corruption Department must act strictly in accordance with court orders but should also improve its conduct towards school administrations and parents. He added that institutions should not be unnecessarily troubled.
The minister said he had contacted Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to apprise him of the situation. He further stated that the Anti-Corruption Department and the Education Department would jointly devise a mechanism to implement court orders in an appropriate manner.
The Grand Alliance of Private Schools Associations had announced two days back that all private schools and colleges will remain shut on January 9 (Friday) across Sindh due to a strike.
The body’s leaders told reporters that they were resorting to such an action to seek “dignified implementation” of a court order and to end what they termed unlawful interference in the private education sector.
The speakers said that under a December 8, 2025, verdict of the Sindh High Court (SHC) Sukkur Bench, the Anti-Corruption Establishment was tasked with verifying freeship lists submitted by regional directors.
However, they alleged that anti-corruption teams had begun conducting direct inspections at schools, which they said violated the Sindh Private Institutions Act, 2013, under which the Directorate of Private Institutions is the sole regulatory authority.
They said that a new application will be filed in the court against the verification process.
The alliance further pointed out that the presence of armed personnel in schools was creating fear and psychological stress among female teachers and minor students, while parents were also facing unnecessary questioning despite having already submitted the required data and undertakings.
The schools’ association maintained that private institutions, despite limited resources, were educating millions of children at affordable fees and offering freeships as part of their social responsibility, at a time when a large number of children in Sindh remained out of school.
Targeting the entire sector for alleged individual lapses, they said, was unjust and damaging to the reputation of long-serving educational and charitable institutions.
