RAWALPINDI, Jan 9: With the exception of a few quality educational institutions in the city, a majority of private schools are imparting poor quality education to children.

Since education is a basic need of every child, private schools have mushroomed in the city and businessmen have started eyeing the education sector as a profitable business venture.

Besides demanding hefty monthly fees many private schools find novel ways to fleece money from children. For example students are required to purchase textbooks and notebooks only from the school bookshop, which adds to their income. The ever-increasing population is a major factor contributing to the rapid growth of private schools.

Complaints regarding exorbitant fees, ineffective faculty, substandard quality of education and lack of facilities for students like playgrounds are on rise. On the other hand the number of private schools consisting of three to four rooms are operating in Rawalpindi city, especially in the outskirts.

Similarly, schools do not follow a strict admission policy and any parent who can afford the hefty fees can get his or her child admitted, regardless of ability, at any stage of the academic year, said Akhtar Hussain, a government employee.

The low salaries paid to teachers in private schools is another major factor that leads to poor quality education because the priority of the school’s management is profits not teaching, said Badar Shukri, a teacher at a private school.

Another factor exasperating this problem is that there is hardly any government school of good standard in Rawalpindi where one can get ones child admitted.

In fact, this is a major shortfall of the government that the majority of educational institutions in the public sector are of such poor quality that private school owners are exploiting the situation,” said Daniyal Shahjehan.

Muhammad Waqar, a student, observed that the provincial and district governments were providing huge amounts to the education department for improving the quality of education but steps taken by them have not succeeded in achieving any tangible results so far.—Online