KARACHI, March 16: The Sindh Education Department is likely to restrain private schools from receiving tuition fees in advance from students, said sources in the department. A senior official said a fresh policy of the government on the issue of fees collection for the two months of summer vacations – June and July – in advance, and charging fees from Class X students beyond March, would be issued in a couple of days.

There are general complaints about undue demands of school managements with regard to collection of monthly tuition fees, and as such, the department in principle had decided not to allow schools to charge any fees in contravention to the Sindh Private Education Institution (Regulation and Control) Amendment Act 2003.

Following changes in the academic calendar, parents were finding it hard to meet demands. They say once candidates of SSC Part II (Class X) annual examinations stop taking classes and are into preparation for board exams, there was no logic to the demand by private schools for charging fees up to May.

A number of private schools have told their students of Class X to deposit fees up to May, otherwise they would not be issued admit cards for the board exams.

On the other hand, many parents who are considering shifting their wards from one school to another are also opposing the demands of advance payment of fees of June and July.

They say that as per the decisions of the Sindh Education Department, the final exams from classes IV to VIII would be held from May 10, while results would be released by May 30. In such a situation, they would be deciding about the transfer of their sons and daughters in June only.

While, since the new session was to commence in August, a demand for advance payment of fees would certainly overburden parents.

In some cases, if the advance payment phenomenon was not checked, parents would have to pay the fees of June and July at both the old and the new schools, they feared.

The education official said the government might impose ban on the collection of fees in advance in all cases, including the three-monthly fee payment system, in order to make education affordable for all income groups.

Meanwhile, the All Private Schools Management Association Sindh on Wednesday decided that despite an increase of four months in the educational session, private schools would get fees of only two months for the ongoing session i.e. till May 2005, reports PPI.

In a meeting presided over by the association’s chairman, Syed Khalid Shah, at its central office, it was further decided that private schools should not hold annual exams from classes I-VIII before May 10, and accept the steering committees decision in this regard.