KARACHI: Sindh’s private schools have urged the Sindh High Court to review its order of not more than five per cent increase in school fees in one year.

During a press conference called at the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday, Syed Khalid Shah, chairman of the All Private Schools Management Association (APSMA), Sindh, said private schools had to bear many expenditures, and that the permitted increase in school fee was rather unfair in view of all that.

“Private schools have the responsibility of providing security for students for which they have to hire private guards. Due to loadshedding we have no other option than to use generators. Due to a shortage of water we have to arrange water tankers, which cost thousands of rupees. Since the municipal bodies have failed us in that department, we also have to arrange for cleaning outside the school premises so that the students don’t have to complain about the foul smells and so that they don’t fall ill due to garbage accumulating outside. All this adds up to a lot of extra expenditures,” he said.

“There are electricity, gas and water bills to be paid as well. Then many schools are also housed in rented premises. If not there are the property taxes to be paid. Maintenance of the buildings also falls on our shoulders. And the teachers also demand annual increments in view of inflation. They also need old-age benefits,” the APSMA chairman listed their piling expenditures.

He said the permitted 5pc per year increase in school fee was in accordance with the Sub Rules 7(3) of 2002 and to follow that order after 14 years was not fair in view of so many expenditures of today. “We had explained our problems in the day-to-day running of private schools to the former senior minister of education with the request of allowing us to increase the fees by 10pc. The education minister had also formed a working committee to look into the matter. He even gave his approval for it while asking us not to increase the fee by more than Rs2,500 at a time. But it could not happen,” he said.

“Looking at the increase in population and the current order of not increasing more than 5pc fee in one year, many schools that are finding it difficult to run on tight budgets now may eventually close down. And educationists would feel discouraged to open new schools. Therefore, we earnestly appeal to the court to review its decision regarding this matter,” he said.

Also present on the occasion were APSMA’s regional presidents Mohammad Furqan Bilal (Karachi), Ashraf Bin Mohammad (Hyderabad), Faisal Khan Zai (Mirpurkhas), Iktiar Murkhiani (Larkana), Shakil Soomro (Sukkur) with other association members.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2016