KARACHI: Govt fails to redress parents’ grievances
By Mukhtar Alam
KARACHI, June 14: While feeling aggrieved at the demands of private schools, parents are of the view that the Sindh Education Department is failing to make schools abide by the rules.
Be it the collection of tuition fees, demands for other funds, or observation of the new academic session, a majority of private schools can be held for violation of rules and decisions taken by the education department or its relevant unit, said some parents.
One parent said that he had paid his child’s fees for the months of summer vacations in advance since the education department could not yet establish its writ over the private schools.
Parents say that the department takes decisions, and sets up bodies and directorates, aimed at eliminating advance fees collection, debarring schools from charging other than tuition fees, overseeing the general functioning, and focussing on the registration and inspection process of the schools, but all proved bookish and nothing practical was seen in many cases.
It was learnt that despite notifications and establishment of forums, the Sindh Education Department had failed to get the working of these forums streamlined so far.
Over six months back, the Sindh Education Department had constituted a body by the name of "Private Institutions Management and Quality Assurance Board".
It was assigned, among other things, the task to oversee the affairs of private education institutions with special reference to their registration, fee structure, and inspection and monitoring.
Members of the Board included vice-chancellors, senior officials of education department, representatives of private schools, but there was no representation of parents or independent quarters.
Even the two members appointed to the Board from civil society happened to be an administrator and a principal, both of two private education institutions.
After its establishment in line with the Sindh Private Educational Institutions (Regulation and Control) Rules 2005, the Board has been able to meet twice. Its first formal meeting was held on February 21.
Sources in the education department said the Board in its informal meeting had decided to meet on the first Tuesday of every month and to start inspection of every private institution without any discrimination from early February to assess their services. However, both decisions are still awaiting implementation.
According to the sources, the Board on February 21 decided that private schools in the province would charge fees from the students of Class X up to June. While in the case of students of classes I to IX, it was decided that they would pay the fees of June along with the fees of May, and those of July and August would be paid in August.
However, parents claimed that the first decision, pertaining to Class X, could be implemented only partially, while the second one regarding advance fees collection for summer vacation months was flouted by all private schools.
“We have no choice but to obey, as the schools have warned they would not conduct annual examinations and withhold the results of students,” said the financially-overburdened parents from the Federal B Area, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, North Nazimabad, Clifton, the PECHS, and Orangi Town.
It was learnt that parents did not indulge in school affairs nor opposed the management for fear of victimization of their wards in the absence of any protection from the government.
“The department's officials avoid surprise visits to schools leaving all actions against schools to the parents, who are required to submit formal complaints to the Directorate of Private Institutions of the Sindh Education Department,” said a parent from Faisal Colony.
Under the rules, no school can enhance its fees on its own. It is the registration authority of private schools that recommends the fees structure after detailed inspection of the institutions at the time of registration or renewal of registrations.
Schools are also required to ensure that all conditions of admission along with the schedule of fees, duly approved by the registering authority, should be printed on their prospectuses or admission forms.
These shall be provided to the parents or guardians at the time of admissions.
“But this is not taken seriously by the school managements leaving parents to question why the education officials themselves preferred to play "low",” remarked a senior academician.
Under the new rules, all private schools are required to constitute a parents and teachers association, which shall perform such functions that may be assigned to it by the registering authority.
Parents say that the association should be effected immediately and any proposal for fees enhancement should be placed first before it, by the respective school management, for consideration and then passed onwards to the Sindh education department for the prescribed drill and a final say.
Talking about any low-profile-working of the private schools' directorate or its inability to go against the "fishy business", officials claimed that it lacked due resources, expertise and facilities.
It was learnt that the directorate had received a considerable number of audit reports from schools, but had no relevant personnel to go through them and deduce any result.
The directorate needs a fulltime lawyer, a couple of vehicles for survey, other relevant office and field staff, and an adequate budget, said an official.
