Govt working to �rationalise� fees

Ministry asks educational instts to furnish financial details

The Education Ministry is working towards a solution to the problem of educational institutions across the country charging exorbitant tuition and other fees in violation of rules. Following complaints of astronomical amounts being charged by these institutions, the ministry has said that it will soon provide a directive for “rationalising” tuition and other fees of institutions.
The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) has been given the responsibility to collect information from different schools in this regard and after getting the DSHE report, the Education Ministry will take a final decision.
DSHE sources said they have divided the schools into three categories – small, medium and large – to obtain and analyse the data, including salary statements of teachers to assess income and expenditure of educational institutions. However, DSHE sources rued that some schools were unwilling to provide the information owing to which, they are facing difficulties. So, they had to be instructed schools have been told to provide necessary information as the government wants it.
Director General of DSHE, Fahima Khatun, said, “We have asked the schools to provide information, including salary statements of teachers. But some schools are not giving information easily. We have told them that they have to provide it. After getting necessary information, our committee will assess the data and make a report based on the information. We hope we will be able to send the report to the ministry next week.”

Additional Secretary of Education Ministry Chowdhury Mufad Ahmed said, “After getting the DSHE report, we will rationalise tuition and other fees. We will ensure measures so as not to put extra pressure on guardians to bear the expenses of their wards.”
“Educational institutions cannot realise exorbitant fees as per their whims, because if any student drops out due to excessive fees, who will take the responsibility? It is our duty to ensure proper education for children. We are working on it very seriously. We hope we will find out a process how to rationalise it soon,” he said.
Replying to a query about allegations that some institutions are still charging additional fees even after issuing circulars asking them to stop the practice, Chowdhury simply said, “Let’s see what can be done.”
On Sunday, the Education Ministry issued a circular, asking educational institutions to stop taking additional tuition and other fees until the next directive is issued. The ministry took this step in the wake of protests from guardians that schools this year are charging almost double the fees and it has become difficult to bear expenses of their wards. The guardians are happy with the government decision. They said it should hammer out a permanent solution to the problem.
President of the Guardians’ Association, Ziaul Karim Dulu, told The Independent, “On January 11, we had submitted a memorandum to the Education Ministry saying that the admission policy is incomplete, as it does not say anything about tuition and other fees. We have suggested formulating a framework for realising fees. So far, we know the ministry is working on it. We told the ministry to take suggestions from different quarters, including guardians.”
Ziaul held DSHE responsible for not properly monitoring educational institutions in terms of tuition fees, as these institutions cannot increase fees without the government’s permission. He said there should be a policy where unelected school management committee or government body has no power to increase fees.
Referring to the Willes Little Flower School and College, Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, and Matijheel Ideal School and College, he said these institutions have had no elected governing body for a long time and are instead being run by special committees or ad-hoc committees. Ziaul said that if educational institutions increase fees, teachers will have to stop coaching and concentrate fully on providing proper services to students. “When guardians provide more money, teachers will have to ensure quality education for students,” he warned. He pointed out that the government has to ensure that educational institutions return the additional money taken from guardians as earlier.

Govt working to �rationalise� fees

Ministry asks educational instts to furnish financial details

The Education Ministry is working towards a solution to the problem of educational institutions across the country charging exorbitant tuition and other fees in violation of rules. Following complaints of astronomical amounts being charged by these institutions, the ministry has said that it will soon provide a directive for rationalising tuition and other fees of institutions. The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) has been given the responsibility to collect information from different schools in this regard and after getting the DSHE report, the Education Ministry will take a final decision. DSHE sources said they have divided the schools into three categories small, medium and large to obtain and analyse the data, including salary statements of teachers to assess income and expenditure of educational institutions. However, DSHE sources rued that some schools were unwilling to provide the information owing to which, they are facing difficulties. So, they had to be instructed schools have been told to provide necessary information as the government wants it. Director General of DSHE, Fahima Khatun, said, We have asked the schools to provide information, including salary statements of teachers. But some schools are not giving information easily. We have told them that they have to provide it. After getting necessary information, our committee will assess the data and make a report based on the information. We hope we will be able to send the report to the ministry next week. Additional Secretary of Education Ministry Chowdhury Mufad Ahmed said, After getting the DSHE report, we will rationalise tuition and other fees. We will ensure measures so as not to put extra pressure on guardians to bear the expenses of their wards. Educational institutions cannot realise exorbitant fees as per their whims, because if any student drops out due to excessive fees, who will take the responsibility? It is our duty to ensure proper education for children. We are working on it very seriously. We hope we will find out a process how to rationalise it soon, he said. Replying to a query about allegations that some institutions are still charging additional fees even after issuing circulars asking them to stop the practice, Chowdhury simply said, Lets see what can be done. On Sunday, the Education Ministry issued a circular, asking educational institutions to stop taking additional tuition and other fees until the next directive is issued. The ministry took this step in the wake of protests from guardians that schools this year are charging almost double the fees and it has become difficult to bear expenses of their wards. The guardians are happy with the government decision. They said it should hammer out a permanent solution to the problem. President of the Guardians Association, Ziaul Karim Dulu, told The Independent, On January 11, we had submitted a memorandum to the Education Ministry saying that the admission policy is incomplete, as it does not say anything about tuition and other fees. We have suggested formulating a framework for realising fees. So far, we know the ministry is working on it. We told the ministry to take suggestions from different quarters, including guardians. Ziaul held DSHE responsible for not properly monitoring educational institutions in terms of tuition fees, as these institutions cannot increase fees without the governments permission. He said there should be a policy where unelected school management committee or government body has no power to increase fees. Referring to the Willes Little Flower School and College, Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, and Matijheel Ideal School and College, he said these institutions have had no elected governing body for a long time and are instead being run by special committees or ad-hoc committees. Ziaul said that if educational institutions increase fees, teachers will have to stop coaching and concentrate fully on providing proper services to students. When guardians provide more money, teachers will have to ensure quality education for students, he warned. He pointed out that the government has to ensure that educational institutions return the additional money taken from guardians as earlier.