Governance failure boosts private schools

Islamabad: Under the constitution, its responsibility of the state to provide free and quality education to children of the country however, each successive government failed to accomplish this task, said educationists on Sunday.

Educationists accompanied with, lawyers, members of the civil society, and parents participated in an event titled ‘Our Educational Needs’ organised by Islamabad Educational Forum.

The speakers suggested that the government should ensure that children are equipped with an education that would enable them to face challenges throughout their lives. They also agreed that the schools should ensure students are clear enough on concepts that they do not require evening tutoring, and educational institutions should provide opportunities for both mental and physical growth. On the occasion, majority of parents stressed that they can afford high fees but can’t bear lower quality education form schools.

Former president of Islamabad District Bar Association Riasat Ali Azad said under the article 25-A of the constitution, its right of every child to get free education but, he added, the clause seems abiding as 25 million children still remained without getting education. “Other than out of school children lot, rest enormous number of the children are getting education in private sector” he recalled adding that “the parents choose private educational institution for their children just to seek best quality education which they nowhere found in the government schools”, he regretted. An educationist Dr Akbar Yazdani said on the private and public sector schools work across the world. However, they both provide similar standard and quality of education, he explained, and said that the scenario in our country is much different as our people preferred education in private sector institutions deeming that government institutions could not offer the excellent standard of education they required for their children.

“It was private education sector which played a pivotal role in increasing literacy level of the country”, he said recalling that as per official figures, the government of Sindh has spent Rs1000 billion on education in five years while it could not make a significant change in ever increasing in literacy ratio in the province. He claimed that estimated 35 million children are getting education in private sector educational instructions which a big question on the government.

While discussing on the supreme court directives for 20 per cent deduction in tuition fee of all such private schools who are charging more than Rs5000 month, a representative of a private schools said that they are paying taxes to the government while the fee is only source of their income, arguing that to meet all kind of their expenses, as they provide quality education, small classes and air-conditioned classrooms would be difficult in less fees.

He said that the government treats schools like any other business. “If they want to provide relive to parents they should improve the quality of their own schools, or pass some benefit on to private schools which can be transferred to parents”, he suggested. He claimed that around 55 per cent of tuition fee income in the private schools goes into staff salaries.

A teacher Muhammaad Abu Zar who was engineer by profession but turned to a teacher by choice, recalled that teachers remained as marginalized for long time but mushroom growth of private schools increased the competition within this profession and ultimately the organisations compelled to better pay to the teachers than past.

A single mother of one daughter Nida Maqsood who is also teacher, said that she willingly selected private school for her daughter because she was required a psychiatric as well along with school teacher.

A representative of a teachers’ association said that presence of the regulatory bodies is necessary but the government also should make some certain sort of policies under which the parents, who are preferring enrolment of their children in elite schools, could be kept check that either they are tax payers or not, adding that non-tax payers should be liable under that policy.