‘Maintaining standards’: Private schools regulatory bill to be tabled soon

Private schools concerned over “undue interference” by government.

LAHORE:

A bill providing for a legislative framework for the regulation of private schools in the province is expected to be introduced on the floor of the assembly in the coming days, The Express Tribune has learnt.

A law to neglect private schools has been under consideration for over a year. Several private schools' bodies have expressed serious concerns over the bill which they feel will allow the government “undue interference in the operations of private educational institutions, particularly the fee structures”.

A private bill commission constituted to develop a legislative framework for the regulation of private schools sent its draft proposal last year. However, an officer of the Schools Education Department said that the chief minister had sent the draft back for further deliberation to address some of the private schools’ associations’ concerns.



Last year in August, the SED confirmed that the bill would propose the formation of a regulatory commission which would monitor and regulate the functioning of private schools in the province. The SED further stated that the bill had proposed a three-tier fee structure for private schools based on the facilities they provided and their academic performance.

SED Additional Secretary General Ahmed Ali Kamboh said the bill had been sent to the Law Department for vetting. “We are expecting it to be forwarded to the cabinet for approval in two or three days, after which it will be presented in the Provincial Assembly.”

“It is important to understand that the government will not regulate private schools in the province, a regulatory commission will,” he said.

He said the regulatory commission will comprise representatives of the government and private education sector, technocrats and non-governmental organisations working in the field. Kamboh said the commission will not be chaired by someone from the government sector.

He said the draft had been shown to various stakeholders before being sent to the Law Department. Kamboh said the stakeholders not only included low-fee private schools’ associations but also high-end schools. The commission tasked to regulate private schools will oversee issues like whether schools abide by their fee structures, check whether they adhere to academic standards and dispute resolution (resolving complaints by parents or third parties). “We understand the private sector’s concerns and have taken them on board in drafting legislation to regulate them…but we have to keep in mind that the government has to regulate the functioning of this sector,” he said.

Earlier, Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan had also said that the government was working towards ensuring that private schools were brought under a regulatory framework. Khan told The Express Tribune that the government hoped the body would be set up by March as part of the government's action plan for the education sector.

All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association's (APPSMA) president Adeeb Jawedani reiterated the same reservations the association had put forth last year. The most pressing of these, he said, included fee regulation. He said the regulation disregarded “the expenses incurred [by private schools]”.

With the talks of making it mandatory for private schools to educate 10 per cent of enrolled students free of cost, Jawedani said, the government was putting immense pressure on private schools. He said the APPSMA had not been included in the recent deliberations.

He said the association planned to go to court on the matter if the bill was passed and enforced. The APPSMA claims to represent approximately 80,000 schools in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2014.