Parents have voiced serious concerns over exorbitant fees charged by private schools, saying the rising cost of education has made quality schooling increasingly unaffordable for middle-class families in the twin cities.
According to parents, several leading private schools and school systems have increased monthly fees by 20 to 40% without providing any clear justification for the hikes.
They said schools issued revised fee vouchers every few months, carrying substantial increases, but failed to provide audited accounts or explain how the additional amounts were being spent. They said the practice had further increased the financial burden on families already struggling with inflation.
In addition to tuition fees, schools charge separately for annual charges, security, laboratory facilities, activities and examinations, further increasing the overall cost of education.
Asma Bano, a parent of a student at a private school in Islamabad, said, “We are paying more than Rs35,000 per month for one child, excluding van charges. With three children, it has become impossible to manage.”
She said schools threatened to strike off students’ names if fees were not paid on time, while there was seemingly no corresponding check on their own fee structures.
Bano said another major concern was the lack of transparency, as many schools did not share audited accounts or details of the formula used for fee increases with parents.
She said annual increases were supposed to be capped and linked to inflation, but schools were implementing what parents described as arbitrary hikes.
Ahmed Raza, another middle-class parent, said, “We received a fee voucher of Rs84,000 for two children for next month, compared with Rs62,000 during the same month last year. There is no new teacher, no new facility, but only a new fee.”
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He said that when he went to pay the fee a week late due to a delay in receiving his salary, the school imposed a late-payment surcharge of Rs2,500 and did not allow his son to attend classes for two days.
He called for a uniform fee-regulation policy across the twin cities to provide relief to parents already facing financial pressure due to inflation.
Officials of the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) said the authority regulated the fee structures of private educational institutions operating in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
They said permissible fees were determined in accordance with the academic quality of an institution and the educational facilities available to students.
The officials added that private schools were required to comply with fee-related rules and directions issued by PEIRA, while any increase had to remain within the applicable regulatory framework.
They said the authority assessed the academic standards and facilities of private educational institutions and determined fees accordingly to ensure that charges remained commensurate with the quality of education and services provided to students.
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