Schools warn of lowering standards amid fee cuts

Say some schools have submitted compliance reports to PEIRA

ISLAMABAD: Amid reports that private schools have started firing senior teachers and are relying ever more on junior teachers, the private school association has warned that in wake of directions from the top court to lower their fees by 20 per cent would have a direct impact on the quality of education they provide.

The All Pakistan Private School College Association (APPSCA) in a communiqué said that over 250 private educational institutions (PEIs) would have few options but to decrease the standard of education that they were providing owing to the 20 per cent reduction in tuition fees.

Noting that their revenues had a direct link to the quality of education they provide, the association maintained that their members were willing to comply with the directives of the Supreme Court, adding that most of them also submitted compliance reports to the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA).



“However, it will be more difficult for many institutions to provide quality education at low fees,” it added.

The APPSCA argued that around 55 per cent of staff salaries at private schools are paid from the direct revenues they collect under tuition fees. They added that apart from paying teachers, private schools also have to bear other kinds of operating expenditures.

Any deduction in fees, which is their only source of income, will put educational outlets in trouble, adding that the issue will only escalate if they do not get relief over this issue.

Earlier in January, while hearing a case pertaining to the exorbitant fees charged by private schools, former chief justice Saqib Nisar had ordered a 20 per cent decrease in the fees charged by 22 upscale private schools and ordered them to return half the fees which they had charged students for summer vacations.

The order was then made applicable to private schools across the country whose fees were over Rs5,000.

The APPSCA said that over 100 schools in the federal capital which were charging over Rs5,000 per month as tuition fees have submitted their compliance report to PEIRA as per apex court’s ruling.

Some private institutions, however, have chosen to file a review petition in the SC against the judgment. The petition has yet to be heard in court.

The petition states that owners of schools cannot be compelled to run their schools at a loss since this will violate their fundamental rights under Articles 18, 23 and 24 of the Constitution.

In the petition, it was also referred to the court’s direction to refund 50 per cent of the fee charged during the last summer vacations. The schools argued that this order would result in enhancing the fee reduction for the current academic year by another 8.33 per cent.

Teacher retrenchment

Meanwhile, there are reports that private schools in the federal capital have resorted to retrench ‘expensive’ teachers.

A teacher who teaches at a private school on the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road) has told The Express Tribune that some schools have started downsizing in their establishments with senior, trained teachers the main target.

The teacher, who did not wish to disclose her identity for fear that she could face retribution from her school, said that schools were mostly retrenching those teachers who were quite senior in terms of their education and experience and the pay package they received.



In some cases, teaching assistants were also being let go, adding that teaching assistants are paid as low as half the salary of senior teachers.

In their stead, either teaching assistants, substitute teachers or other teachers were being burdened with additional classes.

What worried teachers was that the current retrenchment was being done in the middle of the school year when there are few opportunities available for teachers to seek employment in other educational institutions.

“There is an air of uncertainty, and we are worried that our pay may be cut,” stated the teacher, adding that they are looking to organise in an effort to safeguard their interests.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2019.