Private schools take up taxes, deadlines with government

A 15-member delegation of the All-Private Schools Management Association Sindh (APSMAS) met the Sindh governor’s principal secretary, Muhammad Salim Khan, on Saturday to discuss a four-point agenda related to the management of private schools.The delegation was scheduled to meet Sindh Governor Dr. Ishratul Ibad Khan, but was told that the principal secretary would deal with them instead. The governor was “not available due to unavoidable circumstances,” APSMAS chairman, Syed Khalid Shah, told Daily Times.One of the points raised was the plan to shift the private schools registration authority to the Sindh Education Department. Registration is currently managed by the respective district governments. The delegation demanded that the decision be cancelled immediately, due to the complications that will arise. “If the registration authority becomes centralized, people from interior Sindh will have to come to Karachi at least five times a year for each registration,” said APSMAS Sukkur president, Mustaq Ahmed Sheikh. This, he said, would be tedious, and costly for the management of these schools.The other point raised during the meeting was the rescheduling of the admission session to August. Admissions currently take place in April. “If the admission session starts from August, examinations will be held in June, which is an extremely hot month, and affects students negatively,” APSMAS representatives said. “On the other hand, with the current schedule, the session starts in April, and the annual examinations are held in March, when the weather is relatively more pleasant.”The delegation also discussed the new taxation policies which are currently under consideration at the city council. They also spoke about the board of intermediate and secondary education in Hyderabad, Sukkur and Mirpurkhas. These boards, they said, charge higher registration fees than anywhere else in the province. “The Hyderabad Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education charges Rs 6,000 for the registration of a new school and Rs 4,000 for renewing an old registration. The rates for Karachi, however, are Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,000 respectively,” APSMAS Hyderabad president, Nasir Khanzada, told Daily Times.The Sindh secretariat principal secretary promised to look into all of these concerns, and to solve them according to their significance. Moreover, the APSMAS was asked to constitute a formal committee with the collaboration of CDGK education department. “This committee will compile a list of private schools for the ease of registration,” Shah said.
Courtesy: DT