RAWALPINDI - Breaching the Punjab Education Department’s orders not to charge admission fee, heads of government schools have started taking Rs 100 admission fee from students. According to sources, Punjab government had ordered exemption of admission fee from newcomers in government schools to enhance enrolment and improve education quality in the institutions but heads of the schools did not pay any attention to the orders.
This may shrink the number of students taking admission in government schools to a great extent and the poor parents, who cannot pay the fees fear that their children will be deprived of education, said the sources.
Talking to this agency, Abdul Wahab, father of a student, said that he has to pay fees of his four children besides supporting his whole family. How could he pay extra admission fee as he earns Rs. 5,000 per month for livelihood of the whole family, he said.
Disheartened by the violation of rules in government schools, students have started to get admission in private schools. As a result, ratio of admission in govt schools has decreased to 50-60 percent.
The sources in the Education Department say that the admissions can drop to even less than 50 percent, if the government schools managements did not mend their ways and improve their standard of education.
They said that many private schools and colleges have sprung up in major cities that are providing good education and parents who can afford send their children there.
Poor students and parents have demanded of the authorities concerned to take notice of the situation and punish those making undue money as well as paying no attention to improve the standard of their institutions.