Parents welcome crackdown on costly school items

CCP issues show-cause notices to 17 major private schools for selling logo-branded items at inflated prices

RAWALPINDI:

The Competition Commission of Pakistan has initiated action against major private schools across the country that sell notebooks, textbooks, uniforms, school ties, girls' scarves and registers at extremely high prices by simply placing their school logos on them.

The Commission has issued show-cause notices to owners of 17 major private schools, seeking replies within two weeks. The move has been widely welcomed by private school associations, parents, citizen action groups, the District Bar Association, and stationers.

They said issuing notices alone is not enough; the action must be implemented strictly.

They demanded a complete ban on the sale of textbooks, notebooks, uniforms, shoes, ties, and school canteen items through specific shops only.

They stressed that stationery and uniforms for all government and private schools should be available at every open-market shop, which would encourage competition and reduce prices.

The competition commission has summoned the 17 schools within 14 days for selling school-logo textbooks, copies, uniforms and stationery at 200-300 per cent higher prices than the open market.

President of the All Pakistan Private Schools and Colleges Association, Irfan Muzaffar Kayani, said he fully supports the government's action. He added that franchise schools are forced to sell logo-branded books and uniforms, as it is the decision of the owners, not the franchisees.

The association supports making all textbooks, copies and uniforms available in the open market. He said they provide some relief to students by offering 10 per cent of seats with free education and books.

President of the District Bar Association, Sardar Manzar Bashir, said the Bar and lawyers are taking the matter directly to the Rawalpindi Bench of the High Court, challenging excessive fees, registration charges, and the sale of logo-branded books and uniforms.

The Bar will request the court to set a strict timeline for creating a uniform national policy in consultation with all stakeholders.

Parents Chaudhry Shaukat and Haji Ibrahim said education and health have already become too expensive, and major private schools worsen the burden by selling logo-branded books and uniforms at prices up to 300 per cent higher. Parents, they said, are forced to bear this burden by cutting household expenses.

They warned that if the government limits itself to issuing notices without enforcement, it would also be considered complicit.

Stationer Waseem Ahmed said that just as meat, clothing, lentils, ghee, sugar, chicken, milk, and yoghurt are available in the open market, school textbooks, notebooks, and uniforms must also be sold openly.

This will encourage competition and reduce prices. "We are booksellers and sell items with minimal profit," he said. Terming it a positive step by the Punjab government, he added that it would bring relief to people already crushed by inflation.