School extortion

This refers to the news, ‘Private schools need to be dealt with someone like Ayesha Mumtaz’ (September 14). The report has highlighted some of the worst forms of extortions being committed under the garb of annual charges, book charges and advance tax (hopefully parents get the requisite certificate for claiming advance tax in their tax returns) in addition to high tuition fee.
The time has come for the government to intervene in this brazen race amongst some private school chains to cross the multibillion turnover mark. Has the FBR come with answers as to how owners of some of the schools have become multibillionaires in a matter of a few years. Have they been paying taxes? There should be a thorough audit. It is unfortunate that a few unscrupulous private schools are exploiting parents in a manner where they cannot even protest against this exploitation for fear that their children may be made to pay a heavy price.
Nasier Sheikh
Islamabad