Education minister vows to end monopoly of private schools in Sindh

KARACHI: Sindh Minister of Education and Literacy Syed Sardar Ali Shah on Sunday vowed to end monopoly of private schools across the province, ARY News reported.

Talking to ARY News, Syed Sardar Ali Shah said that the provincial government is taking adequate measures to stop the private schools from charging exorbitant fees.

He said the education department had directed private institutions to return the extra-charged amount to the students but they were not complying with the orders.

The minister had said that registration would be cancelled of those schools that would not return the extra money to the students.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Sindh High Court (SHC) ruled on September 3 that private schools cannot increase tuition fees beyond 5% per annum.

On the other hand, representative of parents association, Hamood-ur-Rab accused private schools of unilaterally hiking fee and added that the schools were not complying with the government’s laws.

He said,” the power to increase school fee or any other fee lies with the provincial government.”

Read More: SHC stops private schools from raising tuition fee by over 5pc

Whereas Renowned singer Shehzad Roy underlined the need for reforms in public schools and drew attention toward the shortage of educational institutes in the province.

Roy said school management is responsible to provide quality education and security to the students. Shehzad Roy said the government failed to regulate public schools.

He urged the Supreme Court to take notice of the educational system in the province.

Kashif Mirza,  a representative of private schools accused that the state has failed to fulfill its responsibility in the field of education. He said only few hundred complaints were registered against the private schools. While talking about fee structure, he said most of private schools were charging around Rs1,500 tuition fee up to matric students.

Mirza said the government should take action against the schools, who were violating the department’s orders and underlined the need for a monitoring system. He urged the rulers to enroll their children in public schools to ensure quality education in public institutions.