The main purpose of private schools in Pakistan has always been earning profits same as all the private hospitals here. The people who come into this field only have one purpose, to make a name and earn as much as they can and as quickly as they can. As both a school and a hospital are compulsory for every human being (who are lucky and can afford them) they have a large market. Meanwhile, the parents who save their hard earned money to give better education to their children are finding it hard to pay this ransom in the form of school fee which escalates as quickly as fuel prices in Pakistan.
Recently a private school, where my children study, has increased their fee randomly and without any prior notice to us the parents. The funny parts are the fee components; a student in KG class is using computers? We do know that the world has advanced but not to the level where my children study! I get Rs 250 per month for computers in the fee charges, which is totally unjustified while Rs 300 per month is being charged for security, which is used mostly to stop parents from entering the school premises. In addition, may I point out that additional charges of Rs. 300 per month are also an unknown entity? When the school charges a monthly tuition fee of more than Rs 5000, why any additional charges are added?
Is there any regulatory authority in Pakistan who keeps an eye on the schools or are they doing whatever they feel like? We the common people of Pakistan would like to see minimum corruption in education sector and hope that the concerned authorities would take notice of these issues and formulate a mechanism to keep strict checks on private schools, prohibiting them to increase fees exorbitantly.
CONCERNED PARENTS,
Lahore, August 22.