Schools defy summer fee order

LHC stopped schools from charging three months’ advance fee from parents

LAHORE:

The Punjab School Education Department is all set to launch a crackdown against private schools in the province that charged three months' advance fee during summer vacations from the students.

The department has advised all chief executive officers of 36 District Education Authorities to prepare for strict action against such schools that received three months' advance fee.

However, private schools, including big school groups, have ignored the Punjab School Education Department's instructions and are forcing parents to submit three months' fee in advance.

Many private schools have also stopped giving homework to students who have not paid the full three months' fee and are warning parents that their students' results will not be issued until the fee is paid.

Details reveal that private schools in the Punjab province are causing distress to parents by demanding three months' collective fee during summer vacations. The Punjab School Education Department issued a notification to all CEOs to take strict action in their specific districts and compile lists of all such private schools that charged three months' collective fee last month or are charging three months' fee during this month. The Lahore High Court, in its judgment, banned charging three months' advance fee from parents and advised private school administrations to charge only one month's fee during summer vacations.

However, private school networks across Punjab ignored this order this year as well, and the department has received numerous complaints about schools charging three months' collective fee during summer vacations.

"The higher-ups in the education department are annoyed over the cruelty of these private school groups that received the three months' fee.

These schools have their network throughout the whole province. However, it has now been decided that the Punjab School Education Department will strictly stop this practice, which burdens the poor public.

In this regard, a letter was written to all 36 District CEOs to prepare reports and lists of such schools. A notification was also issued by the Punjab School Education Department expressing their displeasure over charging three months' collective fee.

It was also advised to all CEOs to stop this practice in their respective districts using legal means and to send lists to the department for further action. Furthermore, the government will cancel the registration of schools that continue to charge three months' fee after repeated warnings," said a senior official of the Punjab School Education Department.

There are many private schools in Punjab, including those in Lahore, that have even collected fees for the next month from the students, and schools in the province remain open primarily to collect fees.

"The majority of such schools have not issued homework for summer vacations to the students.

Many schools have warned that they will not receive homework until the payment of three months' fee. Some schools have also warned that they will not include homework marks when giving grades to the students.

Parents are tense as this concerns their kids' future, and they are not financially able to pay the collective fee. Private schools have become a mafia in the province, and there is a need for the government to practically crackdown on such private school groups that are not following the Lahore High Court order," said Sameena Sheikh, a mother of a school child.

"We have not received any complaints about our schools charging a collective fee, as we follow the Lahore High Court order on the fee matter. However, the government's notification is routine, and it is just an act to prove that they are doing work," said Kashif Adeeb Jawadani, President All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22^nd, 2023.