Schools bound to give 20pc fee concession after SHC annuls stay order

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday annulled its interim stay against the provincial education department’s orders to private educational institutions for a mandatory 20 per cent concession in tuition fees of April and May during the COVID-19 lockdown following the government’s amendments in the rules relating to such institutions.

The court on April 16 had suspended the orders issued by the provincial school education & literacy department’s Directorate of Inspection & Registration of Private Institutions Sindh to private educational institutions with regard to mandatory concession of 20 per cent in tuition fees of April and May in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Sindh Additional Advocate General (AAG) Ghulam Shabbir Shah informed the court that the provincial government had made certain amendments in the Sindh Private Educational Institutions (Regulations & Control) Rules 2005 by inserting Rules 19-A to 19-E in place of the original Rule 19, giving powers to the registration authority defined under the said rules.

The law officer said that under the amendments in the rules, the registration authority could issue a special order in extraordinary circumstances as described in Rule 19-A, including increase or reduction in fees and remuneration of teachers and other staff members as mentioned in Rule 19-C.

He said that under the amendments, an appeal against a special order passed under the amendments would lie with the school education secretary in case of schools and with the chief secretary in case of colleges.

The AAG said that by exercising its powers under Rule 19-A, the registration authority of private educational institutions had issued a special order on April 28 regarding 20 per cent mandatory concession in the fees of students for the months of April and May.

He said that in terms of Rule 19-B, the special order had superseded the earlier directives that had been impugned by private schools and as such the present petition had now become infructuous (ineffective).

The petitioners’ counsel Arshad M Tayebaly agreed to the extent that the present petition had become infructuous, but claimed that the above amendments and special order issued on April 28 were discriminatory and illegal. He said the petitioners reserved their right to challenge them.

After hearing the arguments of the counsel and after the perusal of the amendments in the relevant rules, the SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar said the petition had become infructuous and so it stood disposed of along with the listed applications with no order as to the costs.

AAG’s statement

Sindh Additional Advocate General Shabir Shah has said that after the dismissal of all the petitions by the Sindh High Court, all private schools were now bound to give a 20-per cent fee concession to all students as per the decision of the Sindh Assembly, adds our correspondent

In a handout issued on Wednesday, the additional advocate general said the restraining order which was issued earlier would not come into force after the dismissal of these petitions.

He said this after the SHC dismissed the petitions filed by the private school associations against the Sindh government's directives to give a 20-per cent concession in school fee to all the students during the period of coronavirus lockdown.

Shah was representing the Sindh government in the case. He apprised the court that the Sindh Assembly after approving an ordinance regarding the concession in school fee had sent it to the Sindh governor.

He said after the approval of changes in the rules by the Sindh cabinet, all private schools had been bound to give 20 per cent concession in their school fee for the months of April and May 2020.

The additional advocate general said action would be taken against those schools which would not give concession in school fee after the changes made in the rules by the Sindh cabinet. He said the decision would apply equally to all private schools in Sindh.

It may be recalled here that due to the sudden spread of the coronavirus in the province, the Sindh government in one of its decisions had closed all the educational institutes, including the schools, till May 31, after which the parents began to put pressure on the government to at least reduce the school fee for the months during which the schools were closed.

The SHC had earlier suspended the directives issued by the Directorate of Private Institutions of Sindh Education Department to the private educational institutions with regard to a mandatory concession of 20 per cent in tuition fee of April and May in the wake of the coronavirus spread after it was challenged by the TYMS Education and other private education institutions, citing that the respondent had no authority to issue such directives.

However, the Sindh cabinet in its April 27 meeting formally approved a 20-per cent mandatory concession in the school fee for the months of April and May, after which the ordinance was sent to the governor on Wednesday, the additional advocate general informed the SHC while apprising the court about the decision of the cabinet in detail.

Following the dismissal of all petitions in the SHC, the Sindh government on Wednesday issued a new notification stating that all private school would have to give the 20-per cent concession in school fee for the months of April and May.