Court orders, KPSRA circular violated: Private schools collecting full fee for June

PESHAWAR: In total violation of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) orders and a subsequent circular issued by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Private Schools Regulatory Authority (KPSRA), some major private school systems in the province have issued fee slips to the students asking for payment of the full fee for the month of June.

The Beacon House, City Schools, Educators and other well-known schools have issued fee challans under the title of ‘Summer 1’ to all the students to pay the full fee for June during which the school would be closed for summer vacations. Some of the schools are not even giving the summer vacations task to the students until they deposit the fee.

Some parents even complained that earlier they used to deposit the fee in banks, but this time their kids have been strictly asked to submit the fee in the school.

The KPSRA, in line with the decision of Peshawar High Court, has issued the circular to all the private schools, asking them to collect only half of the tuition fee from the students for vacations longer than one-month duration.

The schools have also been asked not to collect transport fee and other charges from the students during the vacations.

Also, the advance fee for two and more months would not be collected from the students.

The schools have been directed to give 50 percent concession to siblings - second and third brother or sister - studying in the same school.

The private schools, as per the KPSRA circular, would not be able to make an annual increase in the fee at will. Also, no increase beyond three percent could be made in the school fee.

The schools would not collect extra charges from the students in the name of promotion fee and others.

But the parents are in a fix after receiving the receipt from the schools whether or not to pay the fees.

Spartan Khan, whose son is a student of the Beacon House, Jamrud Road Branch, said that the school has sent him fee slip for June. Previously, he said he used to get a challan for two months — June and July.

He was not clear whether or not to deposit the fee. He said that the court orders were clear that no school could demand the full fee for the vacations.

Father of Azam Khan, a student of the Educators School System, said that he too had received a fee slip seeking the full fee for June. He added that his son has also been asked to clear the fee and only then he would be given the summer vacation task/bag.

Director Operations of KPSRA, Yasir Hassan, when reached for comments, told The News that they too had received similar complaints.

“We have written a letter to the City School, which would be delivered today. We have asked them to explain their position within three days for charging the full monthly fee from the students during vacations in violation of the court orders and the authority’s circular,” he said.

“If this school failed to explain its position, disciplinary action would be initiated against it,” he added.

He said similar letter would be issued to Beacon House and other schools against which complaints have been received.

He explained that the private schools, whose appeal was pending with the Supreme Court, were expecting relief from the top judiciary.

He felt they believe that if the apex court gave them relief, they would charge the students full fee for the month of July after the vacations. “And if the court dismissed their appeal, they would adjust the fee they are collecting now with the fee of July,” he added.