Daily Times

A decision by the Lahore High Court (LHC) regarding a restraint on private schools from collecting three-month summer fees in one go in advance has brought some respite for inflation-stricken parents. The court has barred private schools from collecting consolidated fees and directed them to receive such fees on a monthly basis. Earlier, the Punjab Education Department had announced summer vacations from June 1 to August 15, 2015 while banning the holding of summer camps and charging fees for the entire holidays in advance by private schools. In its order, the LHC has ordered the Education Department to keep the masses informed about this court decision through the publication of an advertisement in the media. Depositing three-month fees is an additional burden on parents and the government needs to wake up to mitigate their sufferings at the hands of private schools.

Due to the poor standard of education at government schools, parents are forced to send their children to private schools that charge heavy fees for teaching their young ones. It has been the practice that almost all private schools charge fees from students for the three months of the summer vacations in advance. Besides, schools arrange compulsory summer camps for which they again charge extra. School administrations offer different arguments for collecting the fees in advance. They argue that they have to maintain the school building, pay salaries to teachers and arrange the payment of utility bills during these summer holidays. These are the purported justifications but the ground realities present a different picture. Moreover, it is unreasonable to burden parents who already face many difficulties in meeting their children’s other needs. The arrangement of the school fee of a single child is nightmarish and if there are three or four schoolgoing children, it becomes a very difficult task for parents to arrange this huge money every year. There is another issue too. Many private schools take full fees from students but pay half salaries to teachers and in many cases do not pay salaries during the summer vacations.
It is very unfortunate that the sacred work of imparting knowledge has become a commercial activity. In the name of schooling, private schools employ different tactics to fleece parents. They have introduced multiple heads to collect more and more money throughout the year. These include stationery funds, examination funds, security funds, annual funds, etc. The decision of the court is commendable but the government itself should monitor the working of private schools and should not leave parents at the mercy of these schools. Stern action should be taken against all those schools that are found involved in charging exorbitant fees from students and not paying salaries to their teachers during the summer holidays. *