Parents want immediate return of Carey Schofield
By Zulfiqar Ahmad
ISLAMABAD, July 2: Parents, teachers, traders, lawyers, doctors and all the 82 staff of the Langlands School and College on Thursday asked the federal government to immediately renew the visa of Principal Carey Schofield so that she can come back to the school.
In a petition signed by all the staff, parents and people belonging to different walks of life, they called upon Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take notice of barring Carey Schofield from returning to Pakistan without any reason.
They also demanded Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to punish those behind the controversy and their alleged involvement in misguiding him by getting the signature of a 97-year-old man.
Talking to this correspondent over phone from Chitral, some of the 173 petitioners said they had only one demand: “Bring Carey Schofield back or else even an angel sent from above is not accepted as the principal of the school”.
Renowned lawyer Abdul Wali Khan said the people of Chitral wanted nothing from the government except saving the future of their children which he stated was linked with the return of Carey Schofield.
“We will not accept anybody as principal of the school except Carey Schofield, as she is an excellent administrator and has put the institution on the right track which had lost its glory as some vested interests exploited the old man – Major Langlands.”
“There was no administration. No education. It’s only Carey who tuned the school into an institution. And I’m dead sure if she remained the principal for another three years, the school is certainly going to become one of the best schools of South Asia,” he maintained.<a
To a question about Mr Abdullah, the sacked vice-principal, he said he had no capacity to run such an institution, adding he had already advised him to run some transportation or some other business, saying heading an educational institution was beyond his capabilities.
Abdul Wali demanded the government immediately issue a visa to Carey Schofield besides ordering a through probe into allegations of misleading the interior minister. He also said the school should also be renamed as Sayurj Public School.
Dr Gulzar Ahmed, one of the petitioners, said Carey had injected new blood into the school. Before Carey took over as principal in 2013, he added, the school had completely turned into a ghost institution.
Kaneez Fatima, a parent-cum-teacher literally cried, saying she had to return to Chitral from Islamabad along with her children after the sad demise of her husband, and it was troubling when she found not a single quality school in Chitral to enroll her children.
She recalled that when Carey arrived, it was no less than a blessing as she completely changed the complexion of the institution. “I’m 100 per cent satisfied with the performance of my children [and] our only demand is to save the future of our children which is only possible if Carey is back,” she declared.
Shabana, who is also a parent-cum-teacher, said that there existed no discipline at all in the school before Carey took the charge. The boys used to smoke cigarettes, and no one was there to keep a check on them [and] we witnessed a completely changed institution with arrival of Carey,” she added.
Wali Muhammad Khan comes from the mountains of Laspur, and works with an NGO in the town. He said all his three children were studying in the school, adding we’d made it crystal clear to the deputy commissioner that any attempt to keep Carey out would have serious repercussions.
He claimed that the deputy commissioner had assured them that Abdullah and Co if made any attempt to go to the school, the district prison of Denin would be awaiting them as they were sacked and had nothing to do with the school.
Rizwan Ali Roomi from Morder village said there were 15 children from his family in the school and the only reason his family preferred the school was because there was a Cambridge qualified woman at the helm of affairs.
When contacted, Mr Abdullah, the sacked vice-principal, expressed his displeasure the way things were reported by ChitralToday, saying it was full of prejudice and biased. “Thank you very much for character assassination by interviewing Javed Majeed and Azam Khan, who know nothing about the school,” he retorted.
“It was Major Langlands and Abdullah who made it an institution of high repute…who is Javed Majeed. Who is Azam Khan [and] who is Carey and what she knows about education…,” he continued nonstop.
But when he was reminded, “What are your credentials if a Cambridge qualified lady doesn’t know anything about education…,” he stopped and said he was going to offer prayers and call you back. But till the evening, he did not return the call. When this correspondent called him again, his mobile phone was found switched off.
It is really amazing how these Carey obsessed people try to turn the situation towards their side…Carey is gone! She was authority obsessed lady! We need logical minded, realistic and rule abiding persons in the school.
Greattt, Naveed Iqbal jalnay ki boooooo..We were there 173 parents signed the petition, you tried to tell lie with the parents but everyone blamed you,,hihihi, Ma’am Carey is coming back soon. We want Carey and only Carey as the principal of TLSC..
There were 215 parents who have signed the petition not 173. 99% parents and 100% students wants Ma’am Carey back as principal.
It is good to hear that people understand the situation. All the parents, teachers, students, doctors and lawyers want Carey Schofield , they are not ready to accept anybody as a principal except Carey Shofield. This is the voice of all the students in TLSC. Sofia Raza you can,t stop the voice of students. I am a teacher in TLSC and have close connection to the school, I know the reality well. All the students want Carey Schofield because she is a brilliant administrator and skillful manager.All the parents who were there in parents meeting favored Carey and this was the demand of the parents to bring Carey Schofield. You should not try to convenience people if there is no reason at all.In particular I wish to thank Abdul Wali for his honest and through suggestion about Carey Schofield management and administration. Zulfiqar really you are diong a great job. The parents and local community helped with social media to clarify the confusion. To all these people , I extend my heartfelt thanks.
The picture uploaded here, as the signature of parents is not actually the same. If you click on the picture then you will see that the picture uploaded is signed by all the teachers of TLSC. No parent is included in this list. Furthermore the news itself says that 173 parents signed a petition out of which 82 signatories were school employees. hahahahah. What a shameful petition. It means that 91 so called parents may have signed. But there were members of so called society members who might have signed the petition. This petition itself speaks of its failure. I remember that about 200 to 250 persons were present there in the parents meeting convened to get signatures on this petition. I remember that every 4th or 5th person was signing the petition.
ChitralToday interviews peoples and publish their opinion and knowledge and give chance to both the parties. If a party has nothing to defend him what will the newspaper do. If the news interviews people under the oath that what was the class room and school situation before Miss Carey when major Langlands was due to his very old age unable to look after the school, then it will be more humiliating for those who write in the favor of those who had destroyed the school before Miss Carey. Miss Carey Schofield has best managerial and academic ability that’s why she was able to change the school as a best one within two years.
I completely agree with Honey. We all know how difficult it is to access parents in Chitral. In fact I am pretty shocked to see the number of people. Parents literally went to Dc house and made protest and I believe its for the first time in the history of TLSC. I don’t understand why some people are soo pissed of at Miss Carey and continuously blaming her and respected people on there own made up stories. Miss Carey is coming back thats is for sure. But now on a very serious note I feel pitty for those who were involved in this shameful act and those who supported. #wewantmisscareyback
This newspaper is no more readable. A newspaper means to convey news to the general masses without being affected by personal likes and dislikes. But here everything is upside down. Its presenting distorted facts and figures clearly taking a single point of view. That is: it wants Miss Carey back come what may. Are you here to advocate Miss Carey and her like minded people or your purpose is to make the general masses aware of the day to day affairs. You have thrown to the winds the very ethics of journalism. Shame!
Hahaha. Yet another topi drama. These people have become a laughing stock. If a 61 years old foreign lady becomes the sole savior of the nation then nothing more can be so unfortunate than this state of affairs; Akbar Aala Abadi’s beautiful words reverberate in this scenario:
‘Khuda hafiz Musulmano ka Akbar… Mujhe tou unki khushhali pe he yaas’.
On another occasion it has been depicted even more beautifully:
‘Or ye Ahle Kaleesa ka nizaam, Ek sazish hai faqt Deen-e-Murawat k khilaf’.
P.S: The names of the parents that have been mentioned above by the writer were those who initially resisted the lady at the first parents day. I still remember Mr.Abdul Wali’s words “Haya di hatay murikh bapo kae”. Later on these few so called parents were invited to dinner parties and their loyalties were bought by the lady. The whole Chitral knows who these people are? How these people change their loyalties like wind and why?
Please do you know that you could be sued for the allegations that you have made. Islam clearly states that get education even if you have to go to China. Do you think the educators in China are Muslims. I recommend that you think before you post rubbish like this again.
The petition of the teachers and the comments of parents are enough testament to Carey’s capabilities. How ungrateful could we be. We are humiliating a well educated and groomed principal who has already shown her worth. We have all respect for sir Langlands and realize his services. In fact, through this controversy we are humiliating his work and exploiting his age. Those maligning Siraj Ulmulk need to look past their collar and realize that he has always worked for the district without even taking credit. His personal assets and business are enough and the endowment fund for the school can hardly be a bait for him. Let’s grow up and ensure that we don’t end up with a ghost school run by the government. We have enough of them already. I pledge for Carey and will use all mediums for her return. Bravo Zulfiqar for taking up the issue in the media.
In this whole issue if anybody has been humiliated it is Langlands and the current DC and the maligning campaign has been spearheaded by your favorite Siraj but I did not see you advocating caution and not maligning the DC under his comments?
Capt. Siraj has worked for the district without taking credit? When did that happen and what was that work? I am sorry I am little ignorant, but in my 40 years of life I haven’t heard or saw any work done by Capt. saheb for the district or its people.
Did the recent water supply KfW project for Seenlasht emerged out of The Hindu Kush on its own?
The correspondent failed to report a vital information. Out of how many parents how many have signed the petition? I think there are more than 1000 Students in TLSC and if the total number of people signing the petition is 173, parents would be 100-120. What about the remaining Parents? What do they want?
There are 1000 students. How many parents could that make with average 2 or 3 children each? And how many parents in Chitral do you think can have access to a petition like this? I think 100 parents is a sizable figure.