Aleem Khan’s National School on Barki Road Shuts 1,200+ Students Out — Prime 8-Kanal Land Eyed for Commercial Development

The National School: Sources say Park-View Group plans a multi-story commercial project on the site; entire staff rendered jobless overnight; a third-party school quietly opened inside Paragon to absorb some displaced students

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 — and sources close to the matter say the real story behind the shutdown may have less to do with education and more to do with real estate.

According to sources, the management is currently waiting for the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) to complete the ongoing road construction on Barki Road before moving ahead with the commercial project.

1,200 Students. No Notice. Phones Off.

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

The human cost of the closure extends well beyond the students. Every employee of the school—teachers, administrative staff, guards, sweepers, 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 this institution for their livelihoods were cut off in a single day, with no clarity on outstanding salaries, dues or end-of-service entitlements.

For many support staff—guards and cleaners with limited alternative employment options—the overnight shutdown was not just a professional setback but an immediate household crisis.

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 for The National School group’s operations, 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: SAMS School Inside Paragon

Sources indicate that, to manage the fallout from parent complaints and mounting pressure, a portion of students was quietly shifted to SMAS School, opened inside the Paragon housing scheme. This school, run by a third-party investor rather than the Park-View Group directly, has absorbed some of the displaced students — though it represents a separate private arrangement, not an official transition plan communicated to affected families.

Land Over Learning

The broader picture, as sources describe it, is straightforward: an 8-kanal plot on Main Barki Road commands enormous commercial value, and a school’s revenue model could not compete with what a multi-story residential and commercial development would yield. In Pakistan’s current real estate climate, that calculation is not unusual.

Every businessman has the right to pursue better returns, and for Park-View Developers, a commercial tower on this land is a significantly more profitable proposition than a school. But the manner of the closure — no notice to parents, no severance for staff, no transition plan for 1,200 children — reflects a standard of accountability that falls well short of what any institution serving families and employing workers should uphold.

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 school with their children’s futures deserved more than a locked gate and a switched-off phone.

Minister Aleem Khan was known to visit the school personally, monitor staff, and oversee its upkeep. Parents and former employees are now asking where that accountability went when it mattered most.

MediaBites has reached out to The National School Network management and Park-View Group for comment. No response has been received at the time of publication.