Parents complain of high fees, unlawful hikes by schools

Islamabad: Parents have complained about exorbitant fees and unauthorised annual hikes by private schools in Islamabad and urged the regulator to take action to advance the cause of formal learning.

The father of a second-grade student enrolled in a private school shared with 'The News' his frustrating experience while trying to obtain school leaving certificate for his daughter. According to him, as his daughter failed to meet the standards in level 2, he decided to transfer her to another school and informed the administration in the first week of August, before the new session began on August 15.

However, the school refused to release the student without an additional month’s fee, citing its policy that requires one month's advance payment. The family had already paid for June and July, covering summer vacation months, despite the student not attending school during that period. In total, the family made payment for three months of non-attendance. After paying the extra fee to obtain the school leaving certificate, the family lodged a complaint with the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority, seeking its intervention.

However, the PEIRA, after four months of review, sided with the school, without addressing the school's illegal 10 per cent annual fee increase, which violates the regulator's regulations, according to the student's father. He also complained that the authority ignored concerns about the school's demand for air-conditioning fees during the summer break, when students were not attending.

The complainant insisted that with limited oversight, most private schools were rapidly becoming profit-driven businesses with policies that prioritised their own interests over those of students and parents. He added that authorities were unable to check those unethical practices, which threatened to limit people's access to education and damage its purpose.