Summer Vacation fee: ICTA asks parents to file complaints

Islamabad DC posts public notice on facebook page

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Capital Territory Administration (ICTA) has asked parents to lodge written complaints to private schools’ regulator for initiating action against school managements demanding summer vacations fee despite a ban on the practice by the court.

Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Mushtaq Ahmed in a notice for general public on social media account posted that no school can take two months fee during summer break as per direction of Islamabad High Court. Therefore, general public can register complaint as per the given procedure.



The notice asks parents to give written complaint to the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (Peira) office situated at Al-Farabi Center, Sector G-8/4. Peria will forward the complaint officially to DC Office for taking action against the errant school. The office will take legal action as per law and will intimate Peira and complainant.

Parents can contact in case of any query on the DC Office numbers: 051-9108383 & 051-9108494.

The ICTA can seal the school charging fee for summer vacations, levy fine of Rs5,000 per day or imprison the school management for a year.

Earlier, on June 4, Peira had asked schools to stop demanding summer vacation fees from parents as per a written order of division bench of the Islamabad High Court issued last week.



Peira had directed private educational institutions to withdraw communication, if any, made to parents about depositing summer vacation fee in advance.

Media reports had said that a division bench of IHC had granted a stay against the IHC order allowing schools to collect fee. But Peira clarified that no such decision was given by division bench and earlier decision of IHC persists. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2018.