Daily Times

The Private Educational Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) either seems to be a dysfunctional entity or is turning blind eye towards the state of affairs as most of the private educational institutions are not complying the Supreme Court’s orders related to the 20 percent discount in tuition fee.

In December 2018, the Supreme Court made bound to all upscale private schools said in a judgment to 20 percent decrease in fees being charged by them. Not only this, the court clearly directed, to return half the fees they had charged for summer vacations (of 2018). The order was applicable to private schools across the country whose fees are in excess of Rs 5,000.

Working since 2006, the PEIRA is concerned authority to regulate, certify and register PEIs in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) for the purpose of ensuring quality, transparency and discipline.

Surprisingly, as per information available with Daily Times, the aforementioned orders of apex court could not be implemented by PEIs in ICT even after passage of almost two years. While the PEIRA is doing role of silent spectrum or depends on mere writing occasional letters to some PEIs.

The court further suggested that the 5 percent increase in fee annually is appropriate. While the regulator (PEIRA) could later see whether the fee increase needed to be set any higher than 5 percent.

Moreover, in another judgement last year, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) prohibited private schools from increasing fee for their students as per their own criteria, and the court, instead, empowered Private PEIRA to formulate a comprehensive policy for determining fee increment at private schools.

However, as per sources, the PEIRA yet neither formed any such policy in as per high court ruling and nor it made any strategy under which the schools could be made to follow disciplined fee practice.

In recent the PEIRA wrote a letter to private schools, copy of which available with scribe, asking them to provide their fee details. The information, the letter reads, is being collected as per IHC order and a comprehensive fee policy would be constituted accordingly. “As per IHC directives to formulate fee determination policy for PEIs ICT, the authority is in process of developing a rationale and inclusive policy on fee determination under which relevant information or data from all ICT’s PEIs has already been called in order to make informed decision based on accurate statistics,” reads the letter.

While quoting the court’s ruling in the letter, the regulatory authority asked private schools that “all PEIs shall charge the fee as the increase rate shall not be more than from 5 percent per annum from 2017 to onward.” Therefore, it added, the current applicable rate of fee would shall not exceed 15 percent raise in fee which was being charged in academic year 2016-2017.

The letter further stated that all institutions shall charge not more than 50 percent of the fee during summer vacations and the fee collection shall be done on monthly basis only. The authority warned the schools that the non-compliance would be treated as per sections 5(4) 16 and 19 of PEIRA act 2013.

The sources disclosed that the compliance by the institutions is yet to due in letter and spirit. Despite repeated attempts, PEIRA chairperson Zia Batool did not respond to give her version.

The Deputy Director Zafar Yousafzai, who is also spokesperson, is optimistic about the implementation of the authority’s directives. “We are doing our best to maximum facilitate the parents as it’s our fundamental obligation,” he claimed adding that the regulatory body is continuously in contact with all stakeholders. “We will formulate and announce soon some comprehensive policy over this that will be satisfactory for all concern segments hopefully as we are doing this while taking all concerns quarters on board,” Yousafzai explained.