‘Parents can approach complaint centre over school fee hike’

After the suspension of registrations of various private schools by the Directorate of Inspection and Registration of Private Institutions Sindh (DIRPIS) over their non-compliance with the apex court orders regarding fee hike, a number of private schools in the province have agreed to deposit the illegally charged fees in the court account.

However, confusion persists regarding the procedure through which parents would be reimbursed the extra fees they had paid as the directorate has yet to formulate a clear mechanism in this regard.

“It has been settled with a number of schools that they would repay or adjust the fees that they had illegally collected from the parents but some of the owners are confused because they don’t know in which account of the Supreme Court they should deposit the amount,” said DIRPIS secretary Rafia Javid.

She explained that officials of the directorate had written a letter to the apex court to make the process simple for the schools. “No one can cheat parents. The directorate has set up a complaint centre. If anybody has reservations over the fees refunding process, they should contact the centre and register a proper complaint. Name of the complainant will be kept secret,” the secretary said.

Javid also maintained that DIRPIS officials would soon launch a drive to encourage the parents to register complaints in case they are being forced to pay extra fees. The directorate will make sure that the apex court’s verdict is fully implemented, she said.