Voucher scheme: Private schools demand Rs1.8b dues from KP govt

PESHAWAR: Owners of private educational institutions have expressed concern over the delay in payment of funds under the provincial government’s voucher scheme.

They warned of moving the court and staging a protest outside the provincial assembly if their dues were not cleared within a week.

Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, All Private Partner Schools President Abid Khan said the Elementary Education Foundation (EEF), an autonomous government organisation running the voucher scheme, was yet to pay the private schools Rs1.80 billion.

Flanked by the provincial vice-president of PEN, Fazlullah Daudzai, Aqeel Raza and other, Abid Khan said the voucher scheme was launched by the provincial government to financially support the education of out-of-school children in private schools.

But, he said, the EEF had been using delaying tactics in releasing the payment to over 4,400 schools for the last one and half years, which had caused unrest to the owners of the private schools and put the future of students at stake.

He said the scheme is catering to the education needs of over 52,000 out-of-school children.

But, he alleged, that the project had failed due to the apathy of managing director of the EEF and other officials.

The office-bearer said the private schools were facing financial constraints due to non-payment by the EEF, and students were not provided stationery for the new academic year, which started two months back.

He said they held a meeting with the advisor to the chief minister on education to resolve the issue, who allegedly told them that he was helpless.

Aqeel Razaq said the schools were not provided books, uniform and fees for the last one and half years. Fazlullah Daudzai alleged attempts were being made to damage the private education sector.