Over 1,200 students were locked out overnight with no notice as federal minister Aleem Khan’s Lahore school, The National School reportedly closed to his residence make way for a lucrative commercial development on prime land.
WEBDESK – MEDIABITES – SOURCE (PARENTS OF AFFECTED STUDENTS & A FORMER EMPLOYEE)
The abrupt closure of The National School Network’s branch on Main Barki Road, Lahore, has left over 1,200 enrolled students without a school session, an entire workforce jobless overnight, and hundreds of families with no explanation, no contact and nowhere to turn.
The school, associated with a powerful federal minister and his real estate group, occupied a sprawling 8-kanal plot on Main Barki Road. Sources close to the matter say the closure may have less to do with education and more to do with the land it sits on. The plot, located on one of Lahore’s most commercially active corridors, carries a market value running into billions of rupees.
While the school was reportedly generating an estimated Rs 5 to 7 million per month, sources say that figure fell well short of the commercial potential of the asset. According to sources, the group is reportedly planning to construct a multi-story apartment and commercial building on the site, a project that would deliver significantly stronger financial returns. Sources add that management is currently awaiting completion of ongoing LDA road construction on Barki Road before proceeding.
1,200 students. No notice. Chapter Closed.
Families told MediaBites that after their children were promoted to the next class in April and May, they purchased new notebooks and uniforms for the coming session in good faith. When they arrived, the school’s signboards had been removed, the premises were locked and every contact number had been switched off. No letter. No message. No statement.
“It is extremely unprofessional,” one affected parent told MediaBites. “Not a single message, not a single call. The phones are off. We have no idea what happened.”
“This was the only option for families who cannot afford LGS, LACAS or City School,” said another parent. “Where do we go now?”
An entire workforce rendered jobless overnight
Every employee, teachers, administrative staff, guards and cleaning staff, was rendered jobless with just one day’s notice. No severance process, no transition period, no formal communication. Dozens of families who depended on the institution for their livelihoods were cut off overnight, with no clarity on outstanding salaries, dues or end-of-service entitlements.
Fee hikes, complaints, then silence
The closure did not come without warning signs. Within less than a year before the shutdown, the school management appointed a new Finance Head who raised fees twice in quick succession. Parents filed complaints with the relevant education authority. Their concerns went unresolved. The school then simply closed.
A quiet exit
Sources indicate that to manage the fallout, a portion of students was quietly shifted to SMAS School, opened inside the Paragon housing scheme and run by a third-party investor. This represents a separate private arrangement, not an official transition plan communicated to affected families.
The children, as one source put it, can always study somewhere else. But the teachers who built careers here, the guards who showed up every morning, and the families who trusted this institution with their children’s futures deserved more than a locked gate and a switched-off phone.
MediaBites has reached out to The National School Network management and invites them to share their version of the story, which will be published as received.
