Private school owners in Peshawar refuse to attend meeting

PESHAWAR: The owners of private schools refused to attend a meeting convened by the district administration on Monday to discuss the issue of inflated fees. The district administration had called the meeting of all the stakeholders to discuss the issue.
However, Deputy Commissioner Riaz Mehsud, who was supposed to chair the meeting, could not reach the venue even one and half hour behind the schedule. This prompted the school owners to walk out of the meeting and chant slogans against him.
The walkout converted into a complete boycott of the meeting, when Additional Deputy Commissioner Osama Warraich tried to press the owners to apologise to the deputy commissioner for chanting slogans against him.
Private Schools Association President Aqeel Razzaq, who was leading the delegation, said the district administration was not the appropriate forum to discuss the matter, but despite that they turned up.He said they were kept waiting for hours. Some parents present on the occasion chanted slogans against the owners of private school while others criticised the deputy commissioner for failing to show up.
The deputy commissioner, however, chaired a meeting attended by parents and officials of the district administration. He said that the district administration had received a number of complaints against the private schools for fleecing parents with excessive charges mostly in the name of security, especially after the tragic incident of Army Public School.
The official said the district administration would work out standard operating procedures for the schools to fix tuition fees and other charges. He said that a committee comprising of all the stakeholders would be formed under the district nazim to keep a check on private schools.
The parents complained about overcharging by the schools despite poor quality of education and lack of facilities.