PHC stops private schools from charging summer vacation fee

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday barred all the private educational institutions from collecting summer vacation fee, ARY News reported.

A bench of the high court directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Private School Regulatory Authority (KP-PSRA) to enforce its verdict.

It also directed the private schools that have already collected tuition for the summer vacation to return the same.

Earlier, the KP-PSRA had restrained all the private schools from charging summer/winter vacation fee from students.

The regulatory body through a circular issued on May 30, 2019 directed all the private schools not to charge summer/winter vacation fees.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, hearing a case pertaining to summer vacation fee, had observed that hike in private schools fee could only be made over ‘solid reasons.’

He said: “The Sindh High Court has ordered five percent increase in fee annually, while in another decision, the court ordered approval of a regulatory authority for fee hike as mandatory.”

The top court said the schools’ administration must also raise salaries of teachers if they increase fee.