Taxing decision annoys private schools

Education department planning to levy flood tax on private schools.

KARACHI: The Sindh education ministry is considering imposing a flood tax on private schools as well as a tax on valuable urban property, The Express Tribune learnt through official sources on Tuesday.

This one-time tax will target all private schools in the province, save those that have a fee structure of Rs500 and below. The schools will be divided into separate categories depending upon their fee structure and will have to pay a tax ranging from Rs5,000 to Rs100,000.

While a summary of the proposal has been sent to the government, it has not been moved yet, said an official of the education department on condition of anonymity.

Private schools in the province, especially those in the cities, are under constant criticism from lawmakers for turning education into a business and perpetually increasing their tuition fees. The decision was also spurred by the fact that private schools make high profits, while the majority of the students studying in these institutions are also from well-off families, added the official.

Parents of students, on the other hand, beg to differ.

Rehmana, whose child studies in DHA School, said that they pay a high fee not because they can easily afford it but because they want their children to get good quality education, which, unfortunately can only be imparted in private schools. “This is just like the teachers forcing the student to buy a new uniform every year when they know quite well that every student cannot afford this luxury,” she said. “You won’t take your kid out of school because of a one-time tax, but this will be a burden on us.”

The plan to impose a tax was confirmed by an angry chairman of the All Private Schools Management Association (APSMA), Syed Khalid Shah, who condemned the decision. It will be unfair to count education in the same category as other profit-making sectors, he said.

According to Shah, private schools in Karachi, which has the greatest number of private educational institutions among all cities of the province, have already worked and donated a lot for flood relief. “We expected the education minister to defend us rather than support the move, since he is a witness to the contribution made by schools,” Shah said.

The chairman, who has been in touch with all heads of private schools over this matter, said it would be a ‘spirit-dampener’. “If God forbid another calamity such as this hits Pakistan, the children won’t take the initiative to help. Instead they will wait for the taxes to be imposed,” he said.

Shah was also upset over the fact that the private institutions were not consulted or even informed earlier that such a proposal was under way. As far as they were concerned, this was an independent decision made behind the closed doors of government departments.

He also felt that this decision might lead to corruption in some schools because the parents will not know how much the flood tax is. “The administrations will get a chance to mint as much money as they want in the name of flood tax,” he said.

It is clear that the burden of this tax would be ultimately transferred to the students. Some schools have already started preparing parents for such a cash disbursement. The Army Public School, for instance, sent notices to parents to inform them of the tentative decision.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2010.