SHC stops private schools from raising tuition fee by over 5pc

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday restrained private schools from increasing their tuition fee by more than five per cent. 

A larger bench of the high court, comprising Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Ashraf Jehan, gave this verdict on a number of petitions filed by parents challenging an irrational and excessive increase in school fee.

The bench declared more than five per cent increase in tuition fee as illegal.

Earlier, the petitioners had contended in the court that the Sindh government has declared more than five per cent hike in school fee within an academic year as illegal. Some private schools, however, have increased the fee by 10 to 12 per cent, they added.

They pleaded with the court to stop private schools from irrationally and arbitrarily increasing tuition fee.

It merits mention here that the SHC had last year dismissed a set of petitions filed by some private schools seeking permission to increase their fee by more than five per cent.

The court had directed the education department to enforce the restricted increase in fee.

It ruled that the provincial education department was obliged to enforce Sub-rule 7m (3) of the Rules 2002 that bound the private institutions not to raise their fee by more than 5pc within an academic year and further requiring them to revise fee structure with prior approval of the government.

The court observed that private schools’ business method is based on the open market principle of – you get, what you pay for – which is a shameful admission in respect of the noble profession of imparting education.