Editorial

It is pointless to say it yet again that the standard of education in Pakistan i

s dismally poor. Everyone knows the state gave up its claim of educating the ent
ire population long time ago and were it not for the private sector, the statist
ics would be a lot poorer than we currently have.
Educating more than one-third children of this country, it is this private secto
r that forms a subject of today’s Special Report; and within private sector, the o
nes that go by the name of high cost ‘elitist’ schools.
The public discourse, as is obvious, makes no distinction between the private sc
hools 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 "unr
egulated" private schools.
Now that’s the keyword. Unregulated. And everyone cries for regulation of some kin
d. But many wouldn’t know there are as strong arguments against regulation of priv
ate education as in favor. The only proper regulatory mechanism in place for the
capital Islamabad is criticized as being "excessive", an example of over-regula
tion. "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 co
nditions of service of teachers, to interfere with curriculum. It also gives pow
ers 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 elsewhe
re 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 R
s20,000 for us. The private investor is not concerned with the social returns th
is 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 can
not do anything about the annual raise in their children’s dues, least of all abou
t the full fees charged for summer vacations. They are unhappy when a brilliant
class fellow of their child leaves school because his or her parents cannot affo
rd to pay the fees anymore; they question why couldn’t the private school manageme
nt accommodate such bright children on scholarships. The hidden costs, in the sh
ape 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 no
t a single person working in the private sector at the management level was will
ing to share his or her side of the story. Over to you with the parents’ view of c
ost of private education.
The News Int l