KARACHI, June 22: Taking note of the blatant violation of the Privately Managed Educational Institutions Regulations (Amended) Act-2002 by the private schools operating in the city, the directorate of private schools, Sindh, has chalked out an elaborate plan to undertake inspections of the city’s private schools, particularly the prestigious ones, during the ongoing summer vacations.

The action has been planned keeping in view the growing complaints against a large number of the city’s private schools. Most of the complaints lodged with the provincial directorate of private schools pertain to the exorbitant admission and tuition fees, annual sports day charges, the so-called ‘annual charges’ and also low salaries of teachers.

According to sources in the directorate, it has also been brought to their notice that a number of private schools are fleecing parents by demanding huge amounts under the head of admission fee. It is, however, worthy to note that under the prescribed rules, a private school can charge an amount on the pretext of admission fee equivalent to a sum of three months’ tuition fee of its highest grade.

Similarly, there is no provision to charge ‘annual charges’ under the Schools’ Conditions of Registration but a large number of private schools are reportedly violating the rule.

The sources said that the relevant authorities had also received complaints about various schools having enhanced the tuition fee every year. As per the rules, a school has been authorised to increase its tuition fee only once in three years, and that too after getting the increased amount approved from the directorate of private schools.

Moreover, a number of branches and second shifts of different schools have not registered themselves with the directorate of private schools as they assume that since their school has already been registered, they can open up new branches and introduce second shifts without getting them registered. Interestingly, it has been made mandatory upon private schools to get each new campus/branch or new shift registered with the directorate under the Privately Managed Educational Regulations (Amended) Act-2002.

The inspection teams constituted by the directorate will check the private schools’ record pertaining to the general registration register, fee structure, salaries being paid to their teachers, and the reports which will be formulated by the end of summer vacations will be submitted to Sindh minister for education and secretary education. On the basis of this survey, necessary action will also be taken against all those schools found fleecing parents on one pretext or the other.

According to the Director of Private Schools, Sindh, Mansoob Hussain Siddiqui, the management of all those private schools, which would be inspected during the summer vacations, have been informed through a circular about the dates and timings of inspection to be carried out at their institutions with a request to ensure that their offices remain open and principals remain available on the relevant dates to facilitate the inspection teams in carrying out their assignments.

Mr Siddiqui said that the inspections had deliberately been planned during the vacations so that nobody could term the exercise a strategy to seek out-of-merit admissions to these schools.