M M Jasim :
City’s most of the private schools have not returned extra tuition fees collected from students yet ignoring the Education Ministry’s order. And thus, this continuous practice of the private schools is making the guardians helpless.
Earlier on February 3, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid asked all the private schools to return extra fees within seven working days. Otherwise, he warned that stern actions, including cancellation of registration, will be taken against them.
But the education minister’s warning as well as other efforts to compel the private school authorities to return extra fees went in vain as the deadline ends tomorrow (Sunday) without any positive progress.
Only two private schools in the city responded to the Education Ministry’s call for returning the extra tuition fees within seven working days.
Most of the private schools have charged extra tuition fees this year in Dhaka City, but only two schools informed the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DHSE) their decision of returning the extra money till Thursday.
Even these two schools are also reluctant to return the extra fees directly as they said that they would adjust the additional money they had collected as tuition fees with the fees for February in compliance with a government order.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid told The New Nation on Friday that there is no scope to violate the ministry’s order. The ministry would take stern action if any school ignores the order and misses the deadline, he said. Director General of DHSE Professor Fahima Khatun told The New Nation on Friday that almost all the private schools across the country charged extra tuition fees from the students. And about 80 per cent schools charged the extra fees in Dhaka city. “We have directed the officials to collect information in this regard. After getting it we will submit the information to the Education Ministry,” she said.
The officials of the ministry and the DHSE said that the upazila and district level officials have started to send information. But the response of the cities well-known institutions, particularity in Dhaka and Chittagong, is very poor. They just are reluctant to return it.
Official sources said that the ministry has verbally asked the institutions in Dhaka and Chittagong to return the extra fees after the demonstrations of the guardians and the students. But, the authorities of the institutions were very adamant not to return extra fees. Finally, the education minister called a press conference on February 3 and warned the schools to return extra collected fees within seven days. Viqarunnisa Noon School and College and Willes Little Flower School and College in the capital have announced that they would adjust the additional money they have collected as tuition fees with the fees for February in compliance with a government order.
Viqarunnisa Noon School and College on Thursday sent a letter to the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DHSE), saying that they have decided to adjust the additional money they have taken from Class-I students with the tuition fees of February.
However, the letter signed by its principal Sufia Khatun did not say anything about other classes, said an official, citing the letter.
Viqarunnisa, one of the most-sought after schools for girls, increased tuition fees from Tk 800 to Tk 1,500 for Class-I to V, and Tk 900 to Tk 1,700 for Class-VII to IX. The authorities of Willes Little Flower School and College on Wednesday sent text messages to guardians saying that they would adjust the additional money with the tuition fees of February, said a guardian who received the message. At the press conference, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid warned of taking legal action against the private educational institutions if they fail to return within seven working days the additional money they have collected as tuition fees and registration fees for the SSC examinations. The minister asked all the education boards to make lists of institutions failing to comply with the directives. A number of renowned private schools in Dhaka and Chittagong suddenly hiked the monthly tuition and admission fees in January, citing teachers’ demand for a pay increase after the government approved the new pay scale for civil servants.
The sudden rise in monthly tuition fees triggered outrage among guardians. Following this, the Education Ministry asked the school authorities to stop collecting the increased fees until further notice. The DHSE in an investigation found seven renowned non-government schools hiked tuition fees between 11 per cent and 100 per cent.
