Minister warns private schools against charging extra fees
A delegation of parents association met Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday and thanked him for resolving the issue of increase in fees by private schools.
The delegation praised Sharif for his efforts for the promotion of education and establishment of Daanish schools in the province.
Talking to the delegation, the chief minister said education was a right of every child and the government was pursuing a comprehensive programme for ensuring 100 per cent enrolment of children in schools and promotion of quality education in the province.
He said there was a dire need to work with honesty, commitment and determination to achieve this objective.
He directed the education department to work more efficiently to improve standard of education in public sector schools.
In a related development on Wednesday, Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan has warned private schools against charging increased fee.
“We have already reached an agreement with owners of private schools to withdraw unnecessary raises in schools fees. Charging of inflated fees is unjustified and intolerable,” he said.
Rana Mashhood said the government was fully aware of parents’ concerns regarding fee hike and would never allow private schools to charge extra fees.
He said that though the private sector had been actively engaged in providing education to children, they could not be given free hand to fleece the parents.
The minister said that a committee headed by special secretary education schools had already been constituted to conduct audit of the private schools to check their expenses and increases in fee structures during the last three years.
He said the committees had been formed at district level headed by DCO and at provincial level headed by special secretary education to monitor the process of third party audit besides the overall fees as well as expenses of the schools.
