Parents concerned as capital private schools charge high tuition fees

ISLAMABAD: Parents have expressed annoyance over the abrupt raise in the tuition fees of various private educational institutions in the federal capital on the pretext of providing security to students and gathering funds for extracurricular and other educational facilities.

According to available data, it was observed that most private schools were charging high fees this year as compared to the previous years.

Parents irked by the unannounced increase in tuition fees, demanded from the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) to take notice of the issue and to conduct a proper survey to check the quality of services being provided by private schools.

Imtiaz Khan, a resident of Sector G-8, said that PEIRA should develop a mechanism to properly monitor increase in tuition fees by schools. He said that the private educational institutions were charging high fees which was unjustified as it was not affordable for most parents.

Syed Zahid Majeed, a resident of G-11 said that most private schools were charging fees according to their own will, and demanded that PEIRA should take stern action against those educational institutions violating its rules.

Commenting on the issue, PEIRA Chairman Hasanat Qureshi said that the authority was planning to conduct a survey to determine which private schools were operating on their own in the federal capital, while adding that strict action would be taken against unregistered schools.

It is pertinent to mention here that as many as 1,200 private schools have been registered with PEIRA in the capital city so far.

Private Schools Network (PSN) Chairman Afzal Babar said that the population of the capital was increasing every day, and it would be difficult for the government to create enough educational facilities for commoners without private partnership, as private schools were providing quality education by charging reasonable fees.

He criticised the Fee Determination Rules 2016, saying that it was not effective if private schools owners were unable to implement the conditions set by PEIRA.