PESHAWAR: The private school owners are pressuring parents into paying fees even though the educational institutions were shut from March 13 to May 31 after the coronavirus outbreak.
Some parents moved the Abbottabad bench of the Peshawar High Court to seek remission of the school charges during the long closure of the educational institutions caused by to the Covid-19 pandemic. The court put on notice for April 27 the provincial government through chief secretary, Private Schools Regulatory Authority and secretary education.
Authorities in the federal capital and other provinces have already announced 20 to 30 percent cut in fees. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has, however, been unable to take a decision in this regard. The educational institutions in the province, like rest of the country, were shut on March 13 initially for a fortnight. The time was extended till April 5 and then May 31. Later, through a notification, the closure was converted into “advanced summer vacations.”
The unscheduled closure of the educational institutions led to a number of problems. The most serious pertained to examinations conducted by different boards and by the schools internally. The board examination for secondary school certificate had just commenced when the government had to shut the schools. The examination was postponed.
The government is now mulling holding the examination for both secondary and higher secondary school certificate soon after the reopening of the educational institutions, most likely in the first week of June. A good number of schools have already conducted internal examinations and declared results accordingly. The public sector schools, which have conducted examinations, were asked by the government to declare results, distribute books among the students and assign summer vacation tasks to them.
KP Education Minister Akbar Ayub Khan said the Private Schools Regulatory Authority would be in a better position to take the decision for the private schools. The second major problem faced by all the stakeholders of the private schools is that of fees. Parents want 100 percent remission of the tuition fees and other charges.
The school owners want early payment of the charges. And the government has been indecisive on how to deal with the matter. All the stakeholders have solid reasons to strengthen their respective cases. The parents cite a number of reasons to seek remission of fees. The prime among them is that since schools are closed their kids are not being imparted education and hence there is no justification for demanding charges.
The second reason they point out is that the prolonged lockdown in the country has affected them badly. Therefore, they should be given concession, at least for the education of their kids.
Another important reason cited by them is that the schools were closed exactly when the academic session had come to an end. “What should a parent do? Pull out kid from one school and get him/her enrolled in another,” asked a parent, adding this is a strange situation requiring a clear decision by the government. The private school owners have their own reason for fee collection. They say they have to pay salaries to staff and clear utility bills, which could be managed only from the fees.
The government, on other hand, has been indecisive. “Our department is scared of the court and we have been waiting for its decision. Also, we don’t take any decision before we get directives from the federal government,” said an official of the education department.
The education minister a few days back had appealed to the private schools to grant some concession to the student in fee. “He knows it very well that no one would heed such appeals. The schools that have not been accepting court orders about fee would not heed such appeals,” commented a senior academician.
The Private Schools Regulatory Authority has its own standpoint. A senior official of the authority told The News that the government has already announced that the school closure should be considered as summer vacations.
“As the students normally pay fee for summer vacations, they should continue paying it,” he added. This was perhaps the most absurd comment given by any official who talked to this reporter. An official of the education department agreed that the situation needed to be thoroughly analyzed and an appropriate decision taken in consultation with all the stakeholders.
He said the government should announce some incentives for the private schools as this was the only way to lessen burden on the schools and the parents.
“The Private Schools Regulatory Authority has already compiled a complete data of the private schools, their staff and other details. The government can announce a compensation package for the staff of the private schools. This would help resolve the issue,” he argued.
