despite the closure of educational institutions for eight months in a year due to the lockdown caused by the coronavirus.
fees have been increased in private schools In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)
The decision to increase the tuition fee also violates the instructions of the Private Schools Regulatory Authority (PSRA), which issued a notice in July 2020 after the authority’s twelfth meeting, stating “this year (2020)The fee will not be increased ) ”.
The fee hike angered parents who walked from the pillar to the post office to urge the authorities concerned to repeal the policy. Parents believe the private school owners are benefiting from the pandemic as they charged tuition fees while schools were closed during the lockdown and have now increased them after their schools reopened.
Speaking to the media, one parent asked:
Is it fair to charge and increase tuition fees if students have not been to school in eight months since March 2020?
According to media reports and updated information, the PSRA’s decision about schools fees ,
not to increase school fees was based on the 2020 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Disease Control and Emergency Relief Regulation.
The relevant notification read: “All instructions conveyed by the notification must be strictly followed in word and spirit by all parties involved.”
However, private schools increased their monthly fees from October 2020 without warning and violated the instructions of the PSRA
The students’ parents didn’t find out about the fee increase until they received the fee slips in February after schools reopened after the second lockdown.
On condition of anonymity, an officer from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education stated that there was nothing PSRA could do to help parents in this regard.
He said the previous PTI-led provincial government initially extended the delay on the bill and only passed a weak regulator for KP private schools in 2017 after criticism and pressure from parents. Under the law, the PSRA can only impose fines of up to Rs. 20,000 in private schools for breaking the law.
These fines can only be doubled in the event of a second infraction, but they’re none other than peanuts for private school owners who receive millions in fees every month.
