Over the last two weeks, a large number of parents of children studying in private schools have been protesting against the random increase in fees. Starting from Lahore, these protests have spread to other parts of the country, forcing the stakeholders to come to the dialogue table.
Starting off as a mere Facebook post, it seems to have become an organised movement with concerned parents from all over the country connected with each other.
Besides protesting against the arbitrary fee raises, parents complain about the additional money charged under different pretexts, without providing the facilities promised at the time of admission or those mentioned in their prospectuses.
On their part, the private school owners term this whole exercise a plot against private schools that have filled the service delivery gap created by the inefficient public education system. They term this as a smear campaign, a well-devised plan by the government to gain political mileage. They justify fee raises on grounds that the cost of doing business has increased drastically over the years and they are simply trying to cover the costs incurred.
The rolling effect created by these protests has led the government representatives at different levels to announce corrective measures. They have officially accepted that this problem exists and the private education cannot be left at the mercy of the so-called free market forces.
Subsequently, notices have been issued in Punjab and Sindh to leading and so far untouchable private schools to revert the recent raise and open their account books for third-party audits.
The Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) in Islamabad is under pressure but it is ineffective, as it has not had a head for the last two years.
Though many private schools have agreed to reverse the fee raise, they are at the same time mulling to challenge these orders in courts. A pertinent question is: can private education be treated like any other commodity, whose price is determined by the market forces and its brand value? Or should private education be treated like a service, provided at affordable rates for nation-building?
"We are playing a nation-building role but the government has made our survival difficult. Why can’t it pass on cost benefits to us so that we can facilitate our students?" asks Mirza Kashif Ali, President All Pakistan Private Schools Federation (APPSF). He has represented private schools in multilateral talks on the issue in Lahore, and believes the government officials are not sure whether they have legal sanction to take action.
Ali adds that the rules governing private schools in Punjab state, "the fees and other charges levied shall not be fixed or raised beyond reasonable limits." The term "reasonable" is abstract, and private schools that can prove their fee raises as reasonable cannot be penalised, he asserts.
According to Ali, schools have to pay 23 annual contributions to the government under the head of annual commercial tax, advertisement tax, trade tax, professional tax, sports fund, scouting fund, annual registration fees, corporate license fees etc. "If the government removes these taxes, the private schools can immediately bring the fees down by 25 to 30 per cent."
Read also: Shopping malls of education by Irfan Muzaffar
On behalf of the Private Schools Parents Association (PSPA), a number of parents emailed a list of demands to TNS. They demand an efficient and unbiased "Private Schools Regularity Authority" be formed to conduct yearly audits by independent/private auditors and evaluate the performance of private schools in consultation with unbiased parents as members.
Some of the demands made are: Annual fee increase should be allowed to private schools only after careful inspection and approval by the regulatory authority; the percentage raise in fees should be determined in accordance with the per cent increase in the salary of a gazetted officer; a detailed breakdown of fees should be provided by the schools so that parents can know what they are being charged for and the hidden charges in the name of utilities, stationery, others and miscellaneous are avoided; and strict action be taken against schools for tampering the clause of withholding tax and charging the parents with wrong calculations and charging taxes on full fees amount instead of the tuition fees exceeding Rs 200,000 only (As per section 236I of Income Tax Ordinance 2001, every educational institution is required to collect advance income tax at the rate of five per cent on the amount of fees paid to an educational institution).
Asma, a mother of a student enrolled in a popular school chain, says her son’s school fee was raised twice in an academic year and the reason given, that too only verbally, was the increase in electricity charges and rent of the school building. She says that when she objected she was told by the school administration to take her son to some other school.
Faisal Bari, an educationist and a professor at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), says education as a commodity is not like a toothpaste that can be substituted easily with a better brand. "The forces of competition that play a major role in bringing down prices and costs in a free economy" do not seem to be at work in this business. Explaining his point, he says, at the time of admission a hefty amount is charged from parents which restricts many people from moving their children from one private school to the other.
He adds this cost is called sunk cost which is a major inhibitor.
Besides, he thinks, it is not easy for a student to adjust in another environment especially when different schools are teaching different course contents and employing different teaching techniques. He suggests that the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) should come up with some rules to encourage competition in this field.
On the ongoing tussle, he says, it is strange that the government has allowed private education to flourish as business over the last 25 years, and suddenly realised it is a service. "Why should only the education sector face action and not the private health sector."
Tabraiz Bukhari, Manager Corporate Communications at Beaconhouse School System, tells TNS that their schools had increased the fees by 13 per cent after the announcement of this year’s budget in which the government had confirmed an inflation rate of 16 per cent. The raise came into effect from September because they follow the financial year but it was severely criticised by parents without referring to the context.
He says they spend a lot on training and skill development of teachers, significant increments in staff’s salaries, research and development (R&D), curriculum development, expansion etc -- all things that give them a justification to increase fees within reasonable limits.
Nadeem Iqbal, Executive Director, The Network for Consumer Protection, terms the government order to lower fees as a knee-jerk reaction. He fears that private schools may lower the quality of education in reaction. "Therefore, more focus should be on regulating the sector and setting standards of school facilities and education."
Unfortunately, he says, the regulation of schools is not a priority. "PEIRA is there but it does not have a complaint mechanism where parents can file their claims. Perhaps, there should be a role of parents in school affairs and promotion/increments of teachers should be linked with the former’s satisfaction to achieve the desired results."