Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders (ICST), on Sunday, deplored ‘greedy businesses’ for hijacking the educational system to maximise their profits. Most of the private schools were censured for having no intention to build on the educational standard or improve the literacy rate. ICST Patron, Shahid Rasheed Butt, said “They are just focused on earnings,” Strict and meaningful action must be taken against private school mafia which is milking parents under different lame excuses, he added. The patron regretted parents were forced to buy books, copies, stationery and uniform from favourite shops where they had to pay 300 to 400 per cent above the market rate. Butt believed that a new curriculum was introduced every year to bar students from using old books. This was another way to extract money from parents, he maintained. Govt urged to act against merciless plunder of masses by private school mafia The official said that teachers were being used as salesmen with a sole aim to please students to attract more business. Such an approach would only lead to a disaster; he regretted. The government was demanded to put an end to the merciless mafia plundering the masses in the name of education on an immediate basis. Meanwhile, Butt also criticised the unprecedented hike somewhere between 15 and 25 per cent in milk prices. He believed it would create a food security issue and in turn have a very negative impact on the mental and physical growth of children. Strict action should be taken against milk sellers banking on the opportunity to maximise their profits, he concluded.