Ousted member cry foul over school board actions

Two members of Pakistan School Board of Management were recently terminated and this issue has raised a serious question over the very existence of the board.

Chaudhry Rafaqat Hussain and Ejaz Yousaf were recently issued the letters of termination. The letter dated January 12, 2016 was issued with the signatures of Principal and Secretary Board of Management Pakistan School Sajid Ali Khan.

Violation of the constitution of the school was cited as the reason for their terminations. However, there is no mention of it anywhere in the letter.

Speaking to the DT News, Yousaf said they were called for a meeting of the board. They sent a three-point agenda to be discussed at the meeting, but in return received an email from the principal that they had been terminated, Yousaf said.

The elected members cannot not be terminated by any clause of the constitution, he added.

He said they went to the school to attend the meeting, but the gatekeeper told them that they could not enter the school as they had been terminated.   

“When we insisted that we were the elected members and could not be stopped, the board Chairman Qari Sami Ur Rehman came and ordered the gatekeeper to push us out of the school with force,” he added.

Qari Sami has registered a complaint against them at the police station that they assaulted him. Yousaf, however, denied the allegations against him.

In spite of repeated calls, Qari Sami was not available to comment.   

According to the 2006 constitution, there was a strict monitoring system in the school, where the community people were nominated and embassy had very effective role in the affairs of the school.

But in the new constitution the role of the ambassador has been restricted to moral lectures only.   

This incidence has raised the waves of concern and anxiety among the community members.