ISLAMABAD: Muttahida Qaumi Movement Senator retired Col Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi tabled a calling attention notice on Friday to draw the Senate’s attention towards monthly tuition fees increased by private schools in the capital.

He said parents were spending up to 40pc of their domestic budget on school tuition due to the increase in fees charged by private schools. He claimed that schools had been charging “as much as Rs40,000” in fees, “due to which parents have been suffering.”Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Minister Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, while replying to the calling attention notice, said the situation was not that severe, adding the ministry was devising a strategy to control and cap the tuition fees.

However, Mr Mashhadi told Dawn that the state minister’s response was not satisfactory.

MQM senator dissatisfied with minister’s claim that CADD is devising strategy to control tuition fees

“The fact is that private educational institutions belong to very powerful personalities due to which no one can take action against them. Education has become a business in the federal capital, and on the other hand, the ministry is not ready to take any action,” he said.

The senator said private schools were taking advantage of the fact that parents wanted to educate their children.

“It is unfortunate that government schools have failed to provide quality education. They lack teachers and facilities due to which people do not want to send their children to government schools. If the ministry improves the quality of education in government schools, people will start admitting their children to government schools,” he said.

“I suggest that the government take immediate action and improve the quality of education in government schools, because that is the only way private schools’ fees will be controlled,” he added.

Mr Mashhadi also said it was the government’s responsibility to provide quality education, but education was not a priority, leaving the private sector to provide education at very high costs.

“Steps should be taken to provide basic facilities - teachers, boundary walls and quality education - in government schools so that people prefer to admit their children to government schools rather than private schools,” he suggested.

Private schools suddenly increased tuition fees in 2015 with one institution increasing the fees by 18pc even though inflation was between 5 and 7pc. At the time, parents filed complaints with key offices and held protests to raise awareness about the issue. However, some schools obtained stay orders from the Islamabad High Court and continued to charge increased fees.

Then prime minister Nawaz Sharif also took notice of the issue, and ordered the CADD ministry to address it, but the matter was not addressed to the parents’ satisfaction. Parents of students in private schools argued that with nearly half of the city’s students admitted to private schools, the government should devise a policy in this regard.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2017