Fee-hike controversy: Private schools to resolve matter in two weeks

Protesting parents meet private schools’ management with CADD secretary

ISLAMABAD:

Private educational institutes here on Wednesday agreed to resolve the issue of hike in school fee within two weeks.

The progress was made during a meeting between the management of top private educational institutes and parents with the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Secretary Khalid Hanif.

The issue of exorbitant fee increase had forced parents to take to roads and ask authorities to take action.

The Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (Peira) is literally dysfunctional since its establishment in 2013 and has been headless for over two years.

Hanif told The Express Tribune that they met both stakeholders, and it was decided to resolve the issue amicably. “The concerns of the parents and the private institutes are genuine and we will hopefully come up with a middle way,” he said.

Later, a handout was issued by Peira member academics Imtiaz Ali Qureshi carrying three points finalised in the meeting.

“All the private institutes will resolve the grievances of parents within two weeks,” and the monthly tuition fee including all the ancillary charges will stand frozen at the level of August 31, 2015 till the resolution of the issue.

The handout also added that no student would be expelled from private educational institutes on the basis of non-payment of increased fee.

One of the participants of the meeting, requesting anonymity, said private institutes shared documentary proofs that some parents had not even paid fee for the last few months. “They said we can also circulate names of such parents on the social media just like the parents are doing a campaign against them,” he added.

About the non-functionality of peira, the secretary remarked that soon they would resolve the issue and appoint a permanent head.

Advocate Aliya Agha, a prominent member from the protesters’ side, said the government’s decision was an interim one, and they are still concerned whether the issue would be addressed as per their demands. “Since they have left it to us to negotiate with schools it is still a problem,” she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2015.