Private schools ask ESEF to pay tuition fees

PESHAWAR: All Private Partners Schools Association (APPSA) has said the Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation (ESEF) has been violating its agreement with them for the last three years, which resulted in the closure of hundreds of schools.

Speaking at a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Thursday, the APPSA chairman Amir Rehman along with other office-bearers said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had initiated voucher schools in 2018 under the supervision of the foundation.

He said 1035 partner schools in the province had signed partnership with the foundation, under which it had to pay Rs500 to partner schools as tuition fee for every student, quarterly. He deplored that after a few months, the foundation stopped the payment on the pretext of verification of schools.

The partner schools apprised the authorities concerned, the ministers for education and finance but nothing practical was done for the solution of their problem, he added.

He said they would stage a protest in front of the provincial assembly if the payments to their schools were not released within a few days.

On the occasion, the central leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (G) Aysha Gulalai and APPSA provincial president Aqeel Razzaq along with other office-bearers announced their support to partner schools and staged a demonstration outside Peshawar Press Club to press the government for the acceptance of their demands.