August 25, 2008	Monday	Sha'aban 22, 1429

KARACHI, Aug 24: While most of the private schools in the city have already increased their tuition fee without permission, supposed to be taken from the authorities concerned, managements of various other private schools are making hectic efforts to get a free hand in this regard.

Private schools are under obligation under the rules and regulations laid down by the education department not to increase the tuition fee without the mandatory permission from the competent authority.

Representatives of the private schools’ associations have been approaching the authorities concerned in the education department and other quarters to get the condition of permission waived, allowing management of every private school to fix its fee at its whim.

The lobbies active to achieve the goal are using the pretext of price-hike and inflation, as well as the enhanced scrutiny and recognition fees being charged by the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK), to make their case.

Sources in the Sindh education department’s directorate of private institutions said that private school were authorised to increase tuition fee by five per cent per annum at the start of an academic year.

However, they observed, managements of various private schools, individually or through the All-Private Schools Management Association (APSMA), Sindh, had constantly been pressuring the directorate to allow them a free hand in this regard. They intended to raise the tuition fee by 15 per cent at this stage, the sources said, adding that they wanted the condition of seeking prior permission for the purpose waived.

According to the sources, APSMA, Sindh, proposes that the provincial education department should allow a 15 per cent increase in tuition fee without seeking permission from any authority and that the clause of permission should apply only to those schools seeking an increase of more than 15 per cent.

APSMA chairman Syed Khalid Shah, asked to comment, said that the prevailing wave of inflation had pushed managements of private schools into a deep financial crisis. Expenditures being incurred in water, power, gas, salaries, etc, had gone up exorbitantly while the boards had also increased scrutiny and recognition fees. “There is no other option for us but to cover these expenses through fees to come out of the crisis,” he argued.

He pointed out that owners of the buildings housing private schools had also raised monthly/annual rate manifold over the past few years.

Although the inflation was estimated to have gone up to 35-40 per cent during the current year alone, the association was seeking no more than 15 per cent increase in the tuition fee, realizing that students from lower and middle class families would not be able to afford an unrealistic increase.

He argued that it was becoming increasingly difficult for managements of private schools’ to ensure quality education while suffering losses on account of rising inflation and growing expenses.