ISLAMABAD: The Private Educational Institution Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) has assured parents of children enrolled in elite schools that it will regulate fee structures according to quantifiable parameter standards.

At a consultative workshop on `Fee Determination and Quality of Education Parameters for Private Schools` Junaid Alchlag, the PEIRA chairperson, said the regulatory body had been working to regulate school fee structures.

He said: `All schools will have to follow our fee guidelines which will be linked to quantifiable parameters that will consider infrastructure facilities, curriculum, extracurricular activities, human resources and examination results, among others.

Parents attending the meeting gave their suggestions to PEIRA on how to deal with private schools.

They said fees should be capped at a certain level because there is currently no maximum fee limit in place.

Shazia Rashid, whose children are studying at a private school, said: `They are charging whatever they want, according to their own calculations. PEIR A should intervene.

Another parent, Hamid Khan, suggested fee increase should be indexed with the Consumer PriceIndex.

To this the chairperson said PEIRA has been working on preparing a comprehensive policy document in which elite schools will be capped at a certain level.

Parents also asked the regulatory body to introduce a uniform dress code for all private schools. To this, Imtiaz Qureshi, a PEIRA member, said he knew of a school which had three different uniforms for different days of the week and said the regulatory body had been thinking about introducing a uniform policy.

Mr Qureshi also told parents, `We are going to introduce seven categories of fees. Elite schools which fall in the last category will not be allowed to charge more than 30,000 per month` In a detailed presentation, Aliya Agha, an active campaigner against the school fee hike, requested the regulatory body to play their due role in monitoring the performance and fee levels of all private schools.

Minister of State for CADD Barrister Usman Ibrahim said the advice and suggestions they had received will be considered when talking with private school owners.

PEIRA will also hold a consultative workshop with the owners of private educational institutions in the coming few days.A Reporter