Private schools say they are caught between government demands for full vaccination coverage under the national cervical cancer prevention campaign and widespread parental refusal driven by negative social media campaigns. School leaders called for vaccination to be carried out only with parental consent, protection of medical and administrative staff from harassment, and clearer government guidance to resolve the conflict.
Leaders of the Private Schools Network (PSN) and the Islamabad Board of Education warned that private institutions are under “double pressure.” Education and health authorities are pushing schools to achieve complete vaccination results and have, they say, used heavy-handed measures to compel compliance. At the same time, many parents—swayed by online misinformation—are refusing to allow their daughters to be vaccinated, resulting in high absenteeism among female students.
PSN officials said member schools will cooperate with the national campaign and run awareness activities to encourage parents to vaccinate their daughters. However, they insisted that no student will be vaccinated against the explicit written objection of her parents, and that responsibility for any decision to withhold consent will rest with the parents.
The schools also said they will share the names of students whose parents formally decline vaccination with health department staff to ensure proper record-keeping and follow-up. PSN leaders urged the Ministry of Education to adopt the Punjab government’s approach of conditioning vaccination on parental permission to avoid forcing schools into confrontations with families.
Finally, the statement demanded protection for medical and administrative personnel, declaring that any form of harassment during the campaign will not be tolerated. The joint statement was issued by PSN founder and central president Dr. Mohammad Afzal Babar, central general secretary Maqbool Hussain Dar, Chairman Islamabad Board of Education Chaudhry Mohammad Arshad, Haji Abdulnadeem Mughal and other education stakeholders.
