ISLAMABAD: Though the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has empowered the Private Educational Institution and Regulatory Authority (Peira) to fix fee structure for private schools, it cannot determine fees for the 1,591 private schools in Islamabad in an arbitrary manner.

This was stated by Peira Chairperson Zia Batool during a meeting of Senate Implementation Committee on Friday.

“The court decision is the first of its kind to check the private schools, which used to set fees themselves,” Peira Chairperson Zia Batool said.

The committee met to consider charging of fee by private schools during holidays. The matter was raised by Senator Manzoor Ahmed Kakar in the Senate in April last year.

However, Peira cannot determine fees for the 1,591 private schools in Islamabad Capital Territory in an arbitrary manner, Zia Batool said adding: “The court has asked Peira to check expenses and examination requirements of private education institutions, quality of teachers and infrastructure besides other aspects while deciding the fee structure.”

According to the senior official, Peira will take up to four months to collect data of every school.

“We will identify fee slabs, and schools will have to fulfill certain criteria. The private school that offers better facilities and better quality of education will fall in the higher fee slab. And we will ensure compliance by private schools,” she said.

“Islamabad High Court has empowered Peira to not only determine fees but impose fines and penalties on schools which fail to comply with the authority’s decision on the fee structure,” she told the members.

She assured the committee that decisions and policy would be formulated on merit and transparently and the data collected from the school would be made public.

However, the committee chairman Senator Dilawar Khan warned Peira chairperson that she might face immense pressure from owners of private schools.

While members demanded a report from Peira every month on the collection of data from schools, they also asked its chairperson to ensure transparency.

In the last eight years, private school owners challenged decisions of Peira in court.

Last year in September, Supreme Court had decided that private schools would charge fees in accordance with fees collected in 2017, with a 5pc annual increase.

Later, National Assembly Standing Committee on Education and Professional Training asked Peira to submit details of schools violating the court order.

Peira was also told to set up a grievance cell where parents could register complaints against private schools charging what it called unreasonably high fees

The committee had also asked Peira to ensure that private school owners did not exploit parents for unreasonably high fee.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2020