Education for the child, exploitation for the parents
Schools need to come out with schemes to reduce the
‘parental cost’ and stop sending bills home
By Ammara Ahmad
Pakistan’s private education is a sad tale of profit maximisation and mismanagement.
Schools charge a hefty monthly fee. But hidden charges continue year long. Gigantic admission fees are paid at every level to discourage students from shifting schools. At the senior level, figures easily cross the six-digit mark. School fees gradually rise with each class and sometimes around the academic year. There is no regulation or standard for any charge in private schools.

Capital model
The ICT-PEIRA is not quite empowered to address important issues such as the fee structure of private schools and the complaints of the parents. The government’s response is only lacklustre
By Waqar Gillani
Provincial governments have enacted laws to regulate the functioning of Private Educational Institutions (PEIs) but they have not formed any bodies yet. The first such body named Islamabad Capital Territory Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (ICT-PEIRA) was set up in 2005. It is a self-financed body with aims and objectives to register primary to higher secondary level schools, make a national scheme of studies, ensure provision of quality education and facilities, collection required data, teaching faculty and their terms of service etc.

It is pointless to say it yet again that the standard of education in Pakistan is dismally poor. Everyone knows the state gave up its claim of educating the entire population long time ago and were it not for the private sector, the statistics would be a lot poorer than we currently have.

Educating more than one-third children of this country, it is this private sector that forms a subject of today’s Special Report; and within private sector, the ones that go by the name of high cost ‘elitist’ schools.

The public discourse, as is obvious, makes no distinction between the private schools of this variety or that and is equally dismissive of them in general. The general complaint being that private schools charge exorbitant fees and, in the absence of alternatives, parents are pushed to send their children to these "unregulated" private schools.

Now that’s the keyword. Unregulated. And everyone cries for regulation of some kind. But many wouldn’t know there are as strong arguments against regulation of private education as in favour. The only proper regulatory mechanism in place for the capital Islamabad is criticised as being "excessive", an example of over-regulation. "It gives power to the regulator to set limits on fees (though this power is not being used right now), to inspect schools, to interfere with terms and conditions of service of teachers, to interfere with curriculum. It also gives powers to the regulator to shut down schools if they are in violation of rules, and it can also fine as well as imprison principals of schools, for up to one year, for violations."

Parents would be overjoyed if such a regulatory framework was replicated elsewhere but actually even this is not implemented.

Parents are unhappy because the entire discourse of private education reinforces class — Rs100 a month for this class and Rs1000 for that, Rs10,000 for them and Rs20,000 for us. The private investor is not concerned with the social returns this education ought to bring.

Parents are unhappy because they are creating a class among their children which is disconnected with the rest of the society. They are unhappy because they cannot do anything about the annual raise in their children’s dues, least of all about the full fees charged for summer vacations. They are unhappy when a brilliant classfellow of their child leaves school because his or her parents cannot afford to pay the fees anymore; they question why couldn’t the private school management accommodate such bright children on scholarships. The hidden costs, in the shape of books and uniform from a particular store, make them unhappy too.

And finally parents are unhappy at their weak collective bargaining position.

But why is it only parents’ unhappiness that is being talked about here — because not a single person working in the private sector at the management level was willing to share his or her side of the story. Over to you with the parents’ view of cost of private education.

The private sector education is a rapidly expanding phenomenon with a critically important role in Pakistan’s education landscape. The five-year-old Islamabad-based authority to "regulate" private schools receives hundreds of complaints regarding the unregulated private education sector, especially the fees.

"Many parents come to us with complaints that private schools refuse to refund the security charges. We can only request the schools as we are not policing but a rules-making authority," says Imtiaz Qureshi, a member of Islamabad Capital Territory Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (ICT-PEIRA).

The authority has requested the government several times to approve certain rules and regulations on the fee structure, but no progress has been made yet.

ICT-PEIRA is the only functional authority designed to regulate the private schools system. Other provinces are yet to develop such mechanisms.

According to the National Education Policy 2009, private sector’s role is increasingly expanding. While there are several causes for this relative growth, it is partly a reflection of the shortcomings of the public sector to provide quality education.

"The public sector accounts for around 64 percent of all enrolments and dominates at the levels of primary schools (87%), secondary (55%) and higher secondary schools (66%), inter and degree colleges, and general universities. While the overall share of the private sector in total enrolment is around 36%, its enrolment share is 42% in pre-primary education, primary stage 13%, middle stage 58%, high 45% and higher secondary 34%, technical/vocational (52%), vocational/ polytechnics (57%), non-formal basic education (61%) and religious seminaries (97%)," the document reads.

The NEP document reveals that the existence of parallel systems of public and private education in Pakistan remains a cause for concern as it creates inequitable social divides. "First, a small but important component of the private sector caters to the elite and offers high quality (education) that only the rich can afford. Its long-term socio-economic impact is divisive for the society..."

The latest National Education Census tells that the number of private educational institutions increased to 81,103 in 2005 from 36,096 in 2000, thus showing an average annual increase of 25 percent. According to another study, by the end of 2005, one in every 3 enrolled child at the primary level was studying in a private school. Besides, there has been a huge increase in the expenditure on private education, which now stands at Rs 36 billion annually.

"At the household level, the ones which opt for private schools at primary level spend 648% more than those which opt for public schools at the same level. The growth in private educational institutions of higher learning too has been astounding: the private sector universities and degree awarding institutions (DAIs) witnessed a 400% growth between 1996 and 2006 as their number increased from 11 to 55," the 2008 report of the Institute of Social and Policy Sciences (ISAPS), an Islamabad-based organization reads.

Dr Salman Humayun, executive director ISAPS says that around 33 per cent of all schools in the country are privately owned. "The issues pertaining to private school education has been addressed in various education policies since 1947. However, we have yet to see the implementation of one comprehensive policy."

Despite this heavy reliance on private schools for the education of their children, parents complain that these lack accountability and charge fees at will, and hence demand a mechanism which may monitor private school functioning. "But this is not to say that the regulator should restrict the fees that providers can charge or monitor other policies that schools should have, it just means that we might need regulatory mechanisms, which could be private even, that facilitate the flow of authentic and credible information on quality, price, and other relevant variables," economist Fasial Bari writes in an article on regulation of private education.

"Though there is a demand for regulation of private education, private education is here to stay. As the government seems to have given up on ensuring that it is able to provide good quality education to all children in Pakistan, we need to think through the need for regulation of education and we need to be judicious. Islamabad has a modern law for this. This could act as an example for others. But we find this to be a poor law," Bari explains.

The school regulations have a political side, too. Musharraf’s key cabinet member, who supposedly had vested interests in this sector, opposed the private school reforms most vehemently, says an education ministry insider. Therefore, "in Punjab, for instance, the setting up of such an authority is on hold for the last couple of years."

"It is because of the government’s neglect and lack of investment in education," says Ayaz Amir, MNA and a reputed journalist. "In the parliament, education has never been a priority. The role of private sector cannot be neglected. Their role is vital. What we need is uniformity in curriculum, books and examination system."

He adds: "Private sector exists in India as well but there is uniformity in the system. They abolished O and A level education system in 1964 but Pakistan is still pursuing this form of education."

According to All Pakistan Private Schools Owners Association (APPSOA), in 2000 the number of private schools was more than 138,000. The counting will be held again in 2011," says Mirza Kashif Ali, President APPSOA.

He says that according to Private Education Institutions Ordinance 1984 parametres for the registration of private schools are set. But the law is silent on the fee structure. "We apprise the parents about the fee structure before admission so the parents can decide whether they can afford the school or not."

President APPSOA further says 96 percent of the private schools charge less than Rs 1,000 per month. "Only four percent of schools charge more than Rs 1,000 per month. They cater to a specific class of the society."

He says, "Private sector pays more than 23 taxes and has created jobs for more than 650,000 people across Pakistan. Yes, we get complaints but they are mostly from parents that pay more than Rs 1,000 per month as fees."

Parents, he stresses, need to know that schools charging exorbitant fees are not necessarily offering quality education.

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Last Sunday, Salman Shah attended a parent-teacher meeting at his teenage son’s school. "It was a complete waste of time," he says. Obviously perturbed, he elaborates, "The meeting was held weeks after the three-month-long summer break. As a result, the teachers came across as blank slates, with no data to enable them to constructively discuss my son’s progress or to provide useful feedback on his out-of-class activities. Most teachers didn’t even know his name."

Shah wonders if the parent-teacher meeting (PTM) was a mere formality or a legal obligation that the school had to meet.

In most private schools PTMs are an annual or a bi-annual events when typically the teachers mark the attendance of the parents, indicate the expected grade of the child in the forthcoming exams and share the results of the child’s previous class tests – "or to complain about the student’s behaviour," he says smilingly. The main purpose of PTM, he adds, is to act as a means of communication between school teachers and parents; where teachers apprise the parents of their child’s progress and also where parents discuss issues or make suggestions that concern them and their offspring. "Mostly that purpose is defeated, because the teacher-student ratio is so high that a teacher cannot be realistically expected to know each child."

In such circumstances, he suggests, the use of technology to improve communication — "perhaps email, web forums, blogs… In this day of advancing technology a PTM has become redundant. Schools in developed countries are already in sync with these technological developments and keep their systems updated accordingly."

Farahnaz Zahidi Moazzam corroborates with Shah: "Honestly, parents find out very little about the child in PTMs. Teachers are flustered, rushed and glancing at other parents in the queue. It is hard for me to understand, as a parent, why schools are resistant to more involved parents."

Now parents such as Salman Shah and Farahnaz Zahidi Moazzam may seem ‘paranoid’, difficult’, ‘anxious’ or ‘overly worried’. But the fact of the matter is that parents are increasingly turning their backs to traditional parent-teacher meetings and would prefer a more informal contact with schools to learn about their children’s progress. Rather than queuing for a five minute chat with teachers at PTMs or having to apply for an appointment with a teacher, the parents want more frequent access:"Newsletters are a great idea, as would be a blog where both parents and teachers can put in their thoughts and concerns," opines Moazzam.

Now, to ask schools to keep up-to-date with what parents want an unreasonable demand? Supposedly so. For generally school administrations resist any effort to keep parents at the heart of their efforts to improve education. "In Pakistan the concept of a more integrated school-parent relationship does not exist. Perhaps it’s a reflection of our culture, where any forum created is exploited and abused in the name of power and nepotism. The same goes for parents and thus the resistance from schools," says Naila Maqbool, a mother of three school-going children, adding: "Also, private schools specially like to guard their domains very possessively, perhaps due to lack of trust and respect between the school and parents.  No criticism is looked kindly upon and change is sacrilege."

Maqbool is of the opinion that if private schools are a commercial concern then they cannot ignore the first capitalistic rule; "Customer is king. Schools must remember that we pay hefty sums as fee, our children are there because they qualified to be there."

Parents are reluctant to go visit the schools to address any concerns that they might have, as the response is always very antagonistic, she says. "Theory being: the best defense is a good offence. Besides, so many mothers I know are scared to report abusive teachers for fear of how all teachers will gang up on their child."

Karachi Grammar School is one educational institution in the country that can boast of an active school-parent interaction. Recently, hundreds of parents got together to resist the construction of a 22-storey building in the vicinity of the school; as in their opinion the building presents a serious security threat to the KGS students. Omar Quraishi, who has a child studying at KGS agrees the school engages with parents very actively. "Coordinators and parents can attend assemblies of children till they reach class III." Yet he doesn’t think KGS parent body is empowered enough to influence the school administrations on issues of fees. "It may be more effective in getting a bad teacher fired but not really so much on fees."

Perhaps, in order to lessen negative criticism from parents it would be prudent to provide a minimum compliance standard for all private educational institutions —"Such as teachers’ qualification, standard curriculum, extracurricular activities, number of students per classroom, and minimum facilities like laboratories etc," suggests Maqbool.

Basically, she states, both private schools and parents should contribute towards building an infrastructure and making compliance necessary, "slowly parent involvement in schools will become a norm".

To school and back

Absence of a reliable and efficient school transport system for students has raised the cost of commuting to school. That leaves parents with the only option of taking their children to schools in their private vehicles, which means traffic jams and considerable fuel consumption.

Looked at from another angle, high school transport fees are another reason for parents not to opt for school transport, even if it is available. "I have three children studying in class one, three, and five but I cannot afford school transport charges because it simply eats up a big chunk of our monthly budget," says Nabeel Amjad, a father who is looking for an option. "My salary is Rs 25,000. So, I cannot spare Rs 6,000 for school transport even though I get late from office everyday as my children’s school is situated on a different route," he adds.

Others are not ready to part with the comfort and luxury of a chauffer-driven car. "I’m not satisfied with the safety and comfort level of the school transport system," says Mehreen Qamar, the mother of two. "I had once thought about the option but then rejected it," she says.

Mehreen agrees though that a proper school transport facility can solve the problem of traffic jams in the mornings and cut down the cost of commuting to school, "That is true but for that to happen, schools should have a safe and comfortable transport system. One can see how overloaded some school vans are," she adds.

The facility is not available to a majority of students either because quite a few schools do not offer one or there is limited number of school vans available. Some parent have devised a way to avoid the whole problem — car-pooling. "The school where my children are enrolled does not offer school transport facility. Since my children and two of my neighbours’ at the end of this lane go to schools which happen to be on the same road, a minute’s drive apart, I have no problem taking them to school and back," says Mayed Bukhari, father of two children who study in grades six and eight respectively. Mayed says there must be very few people doing car-pooling, "I think it is about making a conscious effort to reduce the cost of commuting to school. I’m sure a very big number of people can benefit from car-pooling but since some people are well-to-do they are not bothered," he says.

School administrations say they cannot make school transportation compulsory as some parents insist they would drop and pick their children themselves, "School transport facility is offered on demand as most parents do not opt for it," says Murtaza Ali Khan, Supervisor Transport Department, The Punjab School. Khan does not agree that transport fee may be one reason why some parents opt for private transportation, "We charge from Rs950 to Rs2500 per student per month depending on the distance covered. We revise our fee responding to the rise and decrease in the fuel prices. So, I don’t think it is unreasonable," he says. Khan fails to understand why the number of children using the service has come down noticeably, "We have about 10 buses and only 250 children use the service these days," says Khan.

"Parents’ major concern, in our view, is the comfort of the transportation service, which we have maintained," claims Major Liaquat Ali (retd), In-charge Transport Service, Lahore Grammar School. "Since our vehicles are well maintained, 45 in all, and charges reasonable, parents certainly opt for the service," he says.

Pakistan’s private education is a sad tale of profit maximisation and mismanagement.

Schools charge a hefty monthly fee. But hidden charges continue year long. Gigantic admission fees are paid at every level to discourage students from shifting schools. At the senior level, figures easily cross the six-digit mark. School fees gradually rise with each class and sometimes around the academic year. There is no regulation or standard for any charge in private schools.

Imagine this: a summer and winter vacation is paid for. Many schools don’t pay the teachers during these months. Then why charge the students? Besides, the percentage profit for schools is unidentified. They have no policy or interest in decreasing these expenses for parents.

When the school takes 3 to 4 thousand rupees per child for a bus service, the cost per child is actually far lesser. My school charged a few hundreds bi-annually as examination fee, whereas the sheets we used were less then Rs 50 in total. Some parents complain that their children have one-dish parties where teachers give, and later verify, a long list of food items. One had to buy his son a talking parrot for a school assignment meant to create interest in animals. The whole class was assigned a parrot each. Many schools change branches within six months of enrolling a child. They declare the new branch is now ready and shift the student to the outskirts of Lahore. Students are compelled to buy school copies, which carry the school emblem. Dozens of these copies remain unused. Some make plastic covers compulsory, others only allow school bags of a particular colour or sell badges, coats or other uniform accessories not available anywhere else.

All this waste is generated because schools assume that parents have to pay for their child’s education. Parents fear their child will feel deprived among his/her peers, and continue no matter how taut finances become.

School books are a complicated business. They cost a fortune, are too many in number, never fully taught or re-used by schools. Children are forced to carry heavy bags everyday and they end up complaining of body aches.

A child going in class 1 to 8 requires Rs 6,000 to 10,000 for books, but beyond class 8, they cost a bomb. O and A levels have been around for 20+ years but the books are still imported and worth several thousand each.

Old books are a good choice, but if the book is very recent or the syllabus has been updated, new books are the only option. Sometimes the syllabus is updated mid-year. Books published locally, contain grammatical and factual errors and poor graphics. For example, a book gave a picture of Steffi Graf with the caption, "Man playing tennis".

Curricula need planning to maximise learning and not cram the child with futile information. Some schools now have book charges included in fee. They sometimes provide some or all the books, again charging an unknown share of profit.

The text books need to become more visual, with more pictures, colours, better printing and less text. Most books are structured in a way that adult guidance is necessary and a child cannot independently comprehend it, especially books related to sciences and maths. Information is shoved onto children, with the assumption that English will be grasped and the teacher will form the conceptual base.

It is ironic that schools provide air conditioners but not multimedia and Powerpoint to the teachers. These can offer students visual and auditory assistance; animation can help them understand processes and theories faster, and remember longer. Books should aid a child’s learning, and not be the main source of it.

Why aren’t our schools utilising multimedia to enhance learning, especially when they charge a fortune for tuition?

Writing, for children, is both an art and a craft. Studying from local and imported books is worlds apart. Foreign books are delightful but expensive. They not only develop concepts but make quick re-readings possible. Small columns run in the sidelines, sometimes containing summaries, important facts and diagrams. Some even have cartoon characters, comic strips, short stories and funny comments, and CDs to keep the students interested.

Children lack the concentration span to enjoy thick books. You can attract them for a few minutes longer through images, but can’t drill them with access/unwanted information or blackmail them through results.

According to the British web service Design Shack, children books should be simple not minimalist, easy yet creatively conceptualised, contain elements of luxury like nature, emotions and simple pleasures like balloons, flowers etc and fresh perspectives.

Adeel Niaz, a book designer, says: "Children’s books require bigger fonts, softer colours and familiar images. Or else the child can’t relate to them."

Children are intimidated by difficult books and poor grades. Perhaps this is why the drop-out rate, according to the Pakistan Education Task Force, is the same for private and government schools.

There has to be some association to issue guidelines about children’s course books and publications. Secondly, we need to curtail the usage of foreign books, especially at junior level. The publishing houses should either be located in Pakistan or local publishers should take over. Schools should have similar if not the same curriculum, so that shifting schools isn’t a hassle. Self-publishing should be banned. There should be locker rooms or time-tables. Seniors should sell books or donate their books once they have been promoted. Schools need to come out with schemes of reducing the parental cost and stop sending bills home. One of the chief causes of deforestation is wood which is required to make paper. Re-using, recycling or e-learning will remove this burden on our forests.

Good education is not supposed to be difficult, boring and expensive because this isn’t the case abroad. Above all, education for a child shouldn’t be exploitation for the parents.

Provincial governments have enacted laws to regulate the functioning of Private Educational Institutions (PEIs) but they have not formed any bodies yet. The first such body named Islamabad Capital Territory Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (ICT-PEIRA) was set up in 2005. It is a self-financed body with aims and objectives to register primary to higher secondary level schools, make a national scheme of studies, ensure provision of quality education and facilities, collection required data, teaching faculty and their terms of service etc.

Previously, there was no such law in force in the ICT. Hence, there was no check in terms of the PEIs, standard of education and other irregularities. There was a need of a platform to collect/provide data regarding the number of students receiving education and requirement of planning. In 2005, the Supreme Court of Pakistan asked for a report from Ministry of Education on rules and regulations regarding the affairs of the PEIs in the ICT.

In order to fill the void and to address the issue, an Ordinance was made and promulgated under the title ‘Islamabad Capital Territory Private Educational Institutions (Regulation and Promotion) Ordinance, 2006’ on September 21, 2006, thus constituting the ICT-PEIRA. In support of the Ordinance, Private Educational Institutions (Registration, Regulation & Promotion) Rules, 2006 were framed and implemented with effect from December 2006.

The ICT comprises a chairman, two full time employed members, a secretary and necessary supporting staff.

The authority seeks to regulate the functioning of the PEIs in the ICT under a uniform policy regarding the registration of institutions imparting education up to the HSSC level and equivalent (including ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level); curricula, academic session and holidays/vacations according to the national scheme of studies and instructions laid down by the government; institutions pursuing the curricula of London and Cambridge universities are functioning disturbed at ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level; qualification of teaching faculty and their terms of service; emphasis on institutions on provision of quality of education and facilities commensurate with fee structure; and collection of required data for planning purposes.

The functions of the authority including regulating, determining and administering all matters and doing all that is necessary to achieve its aims and objectives; to register, regulate and promote PEIs in ICT; to cause inspections to be made by such persons as the regulatory authority may nominate of institutions applying for registration or of registered institutions; to withdraw registration if it is satisfied after inspection that the management and instructions in an institutions are not of prescribed standard and are in violation of the provision of the Ordinance of Regulatory Authority; to check qualifications of teaching staff and their terms and conditions of service; to fix, demand and receive such fees for registration and inspection of institution as may be prescribed; to adopt measures to promote physical and moral wellbeing of students including sports facilities; to see that services and quality of education being provided is commensurate with fees being charged; to arrange for annual audit of the accounts of the authority; to execute any other important matter concerning its functions as may be incidental or conducive to the exercise of powers and performance of functions; and to make rules, policy and to execute the same after approval from the federal government.

The ICT-PEIRA is a self-financing body. This has been done not to burden the National Exchequer.

Till now, the authority has carried out the inspection and registration of 665 PEIs of the ICT. It has prepared the database of the PEIs comprising students’ strength with urban/rural and male/female ratio; teachers’ strength, tuition fee being charged by the PEIs, salary structure of teachers, etc. It has made amendment in rules for relaxations to the PEIs and ensured promulgation of uniform academic session by all the PEIs pursuing National Scheme of Studies.

The authority is one example of a model that is toothless in addressing sensitive issues such as the fees of private schools and the complaints of the parents. In order to be able to do that, it needs the consideration of the government to expand its role. The authority has time and again proposed the government to empower it to regulate the fee structure but there is no response.

The ICT also runs a complaint cell to heed complaints about fees and low wages of teachers in private schools.