|
|
|
|
Unjust, unlawful school fee
April 2008: The recent threat by private schools to hold back admit cards of matric students who have not paid
their July fee is nothing new. It happens every year without fail. Also without
any element of novelty is the condemnation of this blatant exploitation by the
authorities and their threat to cancel the registration of errant schools. How
empty these warnings are and how insincere the authorities are in dealing with
the matter can be seen by the mere fact that the helpline number announced
through a report in this newspaper by the Sindh Education Department's
Directorate of Private Schools remains constantly unattended, except for a
recorded voice that is not much of a help. The official, who called the action
of the schools both 'unjust' and 'unlawful', also advised the parents to
approach a committee in case their complaint was not entertained on the phone.
How would one get hold of an official in person of a department which finds it
impossible to depute someone to attend to phone calls is something that begs an
answer.
There is obviously an unholy nexus between private schools and
their regulators to fleece the masses. This is mid-April and the matriculation
exams are already underway. What justification is there for the schools to
charge fees for June and July from students whose term has virtually ended? The
regulatory body has also termed illegal the annual charges that private schools
levy with impunity, and no different is the case of the hefty admission fee.
Though the fee charged against summer vacations does have official sanction,
should this be done cumulatively and now when it is easy to coerce parents by
withholding school exams entrance cards? Besides there is enough strength in the
longstanding public demand for a 50 per cent reduction because almost all
private schools are known to shed a majority of their staff at the end of each
academic year to avoid paying salaries to them during vacations. Dawn
|
|
|
|
 |
| Post your Comments/ Views about the news. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Education News | | Updated: 09 Feb, 2012 |
|
|
|
|
|
