Moalims

Saturday, September 12, 2015 - Islamabad—Parents of the children enrolled at private schools have called for a ‘crackdown’ on private schools too, as they are charging excessive fees and ‘blackmailing’ the parents in the name of quality education. Sharing some ‘horrifying’ details with Pakistan Observer, one of the parents showed a rusty, used science book given to her child for Rs20,000. “It is customary with the school to take books from the outgoing class and sell them to the new class for huge amounts and we have been asked to use only those books given by the school or our children will be denied admissions,” she further said. Where in the world this is in practice, she asked. Another mother of a class II student showed a fee challan issued by a top school of the city, said the school was charging Rs73,000 for two months (Sept-Oct) and in case of late fee the amount jumps to Rs83,000 and something.

On the other hand, the government seems to pay little heed to the schools’ injustices as it has not devised any mechanism for fee structure in the private schools. The only body that regulates the private schools, Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) has been working without its head for last three months. Besides six-month salaries of the PEIRA staff are also due. This bleak scenario very speaks volumes regarding importance the government attaches to the education sector, said one of the mothers of a private school student.

On Friday, however, after protests by the mothers, Minister of State for Federal Education and Professional Training Engr Baleegh Ur Rehman met with a delegation of parents and assured them he would look into the matter and see what can be done immediately to relive the aggrieved parents.

I shall personally take up this issue with PEIRA (Private Educational Institutes Regulatory Authority) and involve the ministry of CADD (Capital Administration and Development Division) as PEIRA directly comes under the ambit of CADD, he said.

The delegation briefed the minister about their concern regarding unbridled high fees which private schools are charging. They said almost all private schools have raised their fees around 20-25pc during the current academic year and the trend continues for past few years.

News Reference