SHC seeks record of revised fee challans from private schools

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday directed private schools to submit a report with regard to the issuance of revised fee challan to students as per the approved fee structure.

The direction came on a contempt of court application filed by parents against the non-implementation of court order that declared enhancement of tuition fees by the private educational institutions over and above five per cent from the last fee schedule as illegal.

Petitioner Bushra Jabeen and others had filed the contempt application against private schools, private schools director and others for not implementing the court orders. A counsel for the petitioners submitted that the SHC on September 3 had declared any increase in tuition fees by the private educational institutes over and above five per cent from the last fee schedule as illegal and directed the private institutes to either refund the excess-than-five-per-cent amount to the students or adjust the same in future fees.

The petitioners submitted that despite the court directives, the private schools were issuing challan of fees enhanced by more than five per cent and the education department had failed to implement the court decision in letter and spirit. The SHC was requested to take action against the administration of private schools which were not following the court orders and direct the education department to ensure implementation of the court directives in letter and spirit.

An SHC full bench headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi asked a counsel representing private schools whether the order of the court with regard to issuance of revised fee challans had been complied with, to which the counsel submitted that the Supreme Court (SC) had issued interim orders with regard to reduction of private school tuition fees and summer vacation fees.

The SHC directed the private schools to submit by December 20 a report with regard to the issuance of revised fee challans to the students as per the approved fee structure in light of the court orders.

It is pertinent to mention that the SHC’s full bench had earlier declared that provisions of the Section 6 of the Sindh Private Educational Institution Ordinance and Rule 7(3), which restrict private educational institutions from increasing their fees by five per cent, do not suffer from any constitutional defect or legal infirmity and the same were intra vires to the Constitution and the law.

The parents had approached the court when the respective schools of their children had increased their tuition fee by 12 to 60 per cent in violation of the law.

A case related to exorbitant fees being charged by private schools is also being heard at the SC. During the hearing on December 13, the apex court ordered all the private schools in the country that were charging fee of more than Rs5,000 per student to decrease their fee by 20 per cent and also return half of the amount back to parents which they charged for summer vacations.

The three-member SC bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Faisal Arab, while hearing a sou motu case pertaining to excessive fee charged by private schools, had earlier ordered the institutions to submit their audit reports and formed a committee to find an amicable solution to the issue of excessive fee which had been burdening the parents.

The CJP remarked during the hearing on December 13 that the SC would decide in future how much the private schools could increase their fees. Justice Nisar observed that a 5 per cent annual increase in fees was appropriate. He added that a regulator could later see whether the fee increase needed to be set any higher.