Private schools must implement approved fee structure: SHC

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday directed the private schools to issue revised fee challans to students in accordance with the approved fee structure and restrained the schools from receiving more than a month;'s tuition fees from the students.

The direction came on a contempt of court application filed by the parents against the non-implementation of the court order that had declared the enhancement of tuition fees by the private institutions over and above the five per cent from the last fee schedule as illegal. The petitioner's counsel submitted that the SHC on September 3 had directed the private education institutions to either refund the excess five per cent amount to the students or adjust it in fees. They requested the court to take action against the private schools administration for not following the court orders and direct the education department to ensure implementation of the court directives.

The SHC’s full bench headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi inquired from the director private schools if the approved fee structure was implemented or not. TheDirector Dr.Mansoob Siddiqui submitted that only one school had submitted the record of the approved fee structure record, while the other two did not due to the pending litigation. The counsel for the private schools submitted that they have started issuing the revised fee challans, but the parents want the schools to charge fee as they wish. They submitted that the case about the fee structure was also pending before the Supreme Court. The court took exception over non-compliance of its directives and observed that the court’s restraining order was in force since September 20, 2017 and directed the schools to issue revised fee challans. The court also directed the schools to submit a detailed record of revised fee challans and adjust the outstanding fees. The court also took notice over issuing fee challans of three to four months and restrained the schools from issuing more than one month tuition fee challan.