Press Release
The Khilafah Will Provide Free Education of a High Standard, Ending the Private School Fees’ Crisis

The constant yearly increase of private school fees has been a subject of much debate and court action for the last few years. The initial problem of parents of all income groups struggling to pay has now been exacerbated under the current unstable economic circumstances, which have worsened due to the Coronavirus disease pandemic.

It is now common for parents to be unable to pay private school fees, even with concessions. They bear the humiliating hardship of their children being expelled from school for non-payment of fees. They have to transfer their children to cheaper schools or they have to decide to home-school one or more of their children. Many businesses are struggling or have collapsed, and like all other businesses, many private schools are affected. Large private school groups who provide education for the wealthier have switched to online, yet still demand full fee payment, whilst many smaller private schools are now on the brink of collapse, unable to recover fees. The situation is tense on both the side of the parents and the private school owners. It is already clear that the prolonged crisis will continue without a satisfactory outcome that grants justice to all those concerned.

O Muslims of Pakistan!

Private schools are an expensive necessity which mushroomed because of the abysmal condition of our government schools, which are infamous for their underpaid, demotivated teachers, overcrowded classes and meager facilities. The current system has failed so badly at providing state education; that if we only look at Pakistan’s most populous province, Punjab, we see there are now well over fifty thousand private schools. The neglect of state education is due to our successive inept governments, who are slaves to the demands of the West’s neo-colonialist financial organizations. The government spends well over one third of the budget on payment of interest, which Islam has forbidden, leaving little income to fulfill its duties of providing facilities for its citizens, which includes the provision of decent free education at primary and secondary level.

It is an obligation upon the Islamic State to teach every individual those matters that are necessary to conduct their life, male or female. It means in the current age that primary and secondary education must be provided free of charge, whilst higher education must be made free as much as possible. Teaching individuals what they require in mainstream life is from the essential interests, since it achieves benefit and repels harm (ضرر). RasulAllah (saw) made the ransom of the disbelieving prisoners the teaching of ten Muslim children. His (saw) actions show the importance of education and he (saw) did not charge Muslims for this education.

The Khilafah (Caliphate) will provide education as a facility rather than neglecting its duty and then blaming the private schools for being a “mafia” that provides education as a business. For centuries the Khilafah provided free education to a high standard, laying the foundations of modern day mathematics, sciences, arts, engineering and medicine. Only the return of the Khilafah (Caliphate) on the Method of Prophethood will ensure that our children are finally provided education that will secure their Dunya and Aakhira, without breaking our backs. Allah (swt) said,

(يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَاراً وَقُودُهَا النَّاسُ وَالْحِجَارَةُ)

“O you who believe! Protect yourselves and your families from the fire, whose fuel is people and stones.” [Surah at-Tahrim 66:6]

Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir
in Wilayah Pakistan