KARACHI, Feb 21: A committee of the Sindh Education Department, overseeing the affairs of privately managed schools, has finalized a new schedule for the collection of fees pertaining to the months of summer vacation.

A meeting of the Private Institutions Managements and Quality Assurance Board, which met on Tuesday with secretary of the Education Department Ghulam Ali Pasha in the chair, decided that private schools in the province would collect fees from students of Class X only until June.

In the case of students of classes I to IX, the board decided that the students of classes I to IX would pay the fees for June along with the fees of May, and they would pay for both July and August in August, said a notification issued by the Directorate of Inspections/ Registration of Private Institutions, Sindh Education and Literacy Department.

However, despite resentment from parents, most of the private schools had already charged fees for summer vacations in advance from their students along with the fees of Jan and Feb.

Parents had urged the Sindh education minister and other senior officials of the department not to allow private schools to collect any fees in advance from students, as it created problems for parents. They demanded the department to order for implementation of a relevant notification issued by the department last year.

In the meantime, none of the senior officers of the Sindh education department could be reached despite efforts for a clarification as to what would be the mode of refund of fees collected from students in advance not in line with Tuesday’s decision.

The education department’s circular is also silent about the schedule of payment of tuition fees until class X; whether it should be monthly or in advance.