ISLAMABAD - Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA has requested the authorities concerned for exemption of municipal/ professional tax for those private schools in Islamabad which are charging upto Rs5,000 fee from students.
According to a notification issued by PEIRA, the management of low fee charging private educational institutions conveyed that municipal authorities are serving notices to the educational institutions for charging municipal/ professional taxes.
In addition, it is also mentioned in notices that in case of non-submission, legal action shall be taken against the defaulter private schools.
Resultantly, the management of Private Educational Institutions (PEIs) requested for exemption of the aforesaid tax due to fact that low fee charging PEIs are serving the community and they hardly manage to meet the operational expenses of institutions.
Islamabad Capital Territory-Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (ICT-PEIRA) regulates Private Educational Institutions (PEIs) in Islamabad under the ICT-PEIRA Act 2013, and charges regulatory fees, as per act/ rules.
In view of the foregoing, the PEIs charging fee upto Rs 5,000 are considered as low fee charging educational institutions. Therefore, these PEIs need favourable consideration by the municipal authorities too and their request for exemption of municipal/ professional tax is forwarded for consideration, the PEIRA notification mentioned.
Commenting on the issue, President Private Schools Network (PSN) Dr Afzal Babar while lauding this initiative, stated that it will benefit around 80 percent of private schools in federal capital.
“These schools are not only fulfilling the gap created by Federal Directorate of Education but also competing public sector schools in achieving SDG goals with self-help,” he told APP.
He said these small private schools are helping the government in achieving 100 percent literacy rate in the federal capital, however, the promotion of these institutions mentioned in PEIRA is still pending since 2006.
In past, PEIRA only collected amounts from private schools rather than to facilitate them, he lamented.