Private schools given seven days to revise fee

LAHOREPunjab School Education Minister Dr Murad Raas has said that the government has given a seven-day deadline to private schools to revise fee challan and offer 20 per cent discount in fee for the months of April and May.

Talking to the media here on Wednesday, Dr Murad regretted that private schools had flatly refused to give 20 per cent fee discount during a meeting held in this regard recently. He added the government, however, had decided to wait for seven days so that the management of schools was able to make arrangements during this lockdown and issue revised fee challans.

Dr Raas said it was sad that people who made these school owners millionaires and billionaires were not ready to offer relief to people during these testing times.

The minister also asked parents not to deposit fees till the schools issue revised fee challans and added after seven days the government would announce a complaint mechanism against private schools so that citizens could submit their complaints in this regard.

Meanwhile, School Education Department (SED) Punjab has not issued notification about the fee discount so far. About the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF), Dr Murad Raas said an inquiry was under way to find out those responsible for financial wrongdoings in the Foundation’s financial support extended to PEF partner schools. He said as per initial inquiries there was discrepancy vis-à-vis enrolment of 289,000 students in the PEF partner schools and added strict action would be taken against those responsible in the light of probe reports.

He said the government had also dismantled the PEF Board to ensure transparency and accountability in this matter. Dr Raas said he did not include any new school in the PEF partner schools as he had serious doubts about working of PEF partner schools. He added he had also ordered for stopping payment to such schools owing to which he was being targeted on social media by people related to PEF schools.