t would seem that the federal government has lost interest in the matter of private schools charging exorbitant fees, an issue it had taken up and pursued and had supported the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) in Sept 2015 strengthening itself.

Several initiatives were announced after the fee hike issue including the appointment of a new chairman for PEIRA, who would have vast experience in the field of education.

Last year, potential candidates were shortlisted for interviews but the government stopped the process before the final selection. A new directive was issued that the process should be restarted for better appointment, though no steps for doing that have been taken so far.

A DMG officer is currently serving as the chairman PEIRA.

Meanwhile, PEIRA notified its new rules in 2016 in which the fees were capped and stringent rules made for private schools to follow when drafting their fee structure, including student-toteacher ratio and proper buildings.

Owners of private schools filed petitions with the Islamabad High Court against PEIRA`s notification with the regulatory party pleading its case without support from the ruling party.

`Government authorities were unable to effectively implement PEIRA rules, which means parents and students are still being financially exploited by private schools,` said Hamid Khan, a resident of the city and a parent.

PEIRA`s performance is also not up to the mark and is yet to complete its registration process with a large number of schools not having been registered. Many teachers in the rural parts of Islamabad are not qualified to teach.

Private School Network President Dr Afzal Babur said PElRA rules were not logical and unacceptable for private schools.He said PEIRA was only targeting legal schools and did not seem bothered with the more than 500 unregistered schools in Islamabad.

`We demand that the PEIRA chairman should be appointment without further delay,` he said.

When contacted, Capital Administration and Development Division spokesperson Ateequr Rehman said private school owners had some reservations regarding PEIRA rules and that the ministry had decided to change the rules after hearing these concerns,` he said, adding the process of appointing a new PEIRA chairman was also underway.