(In)expensive education: School fee hike irks parents

‘Sasti Taleem Sabke Liye’ campaign launched on social media against exorbitant fees

ISLAMABAD: Shazia Rashid, mother of a 7th grader at a private school, was shocked to see her daughter’s fee challan this month.  Her daughter attends an elite private school in the capital.

“Private schools are now operating as a mafia,” said Shazia, adding that the new fee was beyond her budget. She added that the school administration had told parents that there was going to be some increase in the annual fee. However, what the parents were unable to understand was how come the fee had been increased exorbitantly without any prior intimation.

Starting from private meetings with parents whose children attend private schools in Islamabad, she has gone on to launch a social media movement, ‘Sasti Taleem Sabke Liye,’ demanding authorities to take notice of the fee hike across the country. “I’ve been receiving calls from parents in major cities like Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar and the movement is gaining momentum,” she added.

According to Shazia, parents spoke to the school administration and also sent emails regarding the ‘unbelievable’ increase in fees, but none of their concerns was entertained. This led them to serve a legal notice to the school, which is expected to send a written reply by Wednesday.

Some parents whose children attend Head Start, Roots, Beaconhouse, Freobel’s, Westminster and Lahore Grammar School say they enrolled their children in these schools to ensure quality education. However, they are now dealing with unregulated and accountable heads as registration fee can be as high as Rs50,000. Second-hand books are being purchased by parents at the rate of Rs17,000 to Rs19,000

To this end, they filed a complaint against the exorbitant rates being charged by private schools with the higher authorities on Friday.

A complaint has been registered with the president, the prime minister and the chief justice of Pakistan. The complaint has also been sent to the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court, FBR chairman and Private Educational Institute Regulatory Authority (PEIRA). The complaints state that the parents are asking private schools to withdraw the fee challans issued in September. This is when matters related to inflation, hidden heads and taxes are expected to be resolved to the satisfaction of the authorities as well as parents.

The complaint reads: “The Islamabad private schools cater to more than half the young population. Private schools have mushroomed in the recent decade in order to provide quality education.”

It further states that the government had established PEIRA to monitor and regulate the private schooling business. However, PEIRA, as a regulatory body, has been completely ineffective” in the absence of a chairperson.

The parents are also demanding that parliament introduce a fee regulation of private schools bill so that such issues do not recur in the future. Some concerned parents met with Minister of State for Education Muhammad Balighur Rehman at the Pakistan Secretariat on Friday. Dubbing the current school fee hike as ‘unjustified,’ he promised to introduce legislation to regulate school fees in private schools.

Led by high court legal advisor Aliya Agha, the parents presented their case stating that with the inflation rate hovered between five to seven per cent. Schools are not justified in increasing their fee for the current term by 18%.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Barrister Usman Ibrahim cancelled a meeting with the parents and has not re-scheduled, nor is he responding to calls.

All Pakistan Private Schools and Colleges Association Central President Malik Abrar Hussain said to resolve the issue the government should upgrade the standard of public educational institutions. This should be done so that parents do not have to send their children to private educational institutions.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2015.