SHC orders concessionary transport fares for students

Bench directs school, college education depts to issue students ID cards

HYDERABAD: The school and college students in Sindh will now be able to avail concessionary fares in public transport. The Sindh High Court ordered on Wednesday the provincial government to issue directions to public and private transporters for compliance of the court's order.

The Hyderabad circuit bench, comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Fahim Ahmed Siddiqi, also directed the school and college education departments to issue identity cards to the students.

"... earlier it was a practice to give concession to the students not only in public transport but also in trains, which otherwise is in aid to object of removing illiteracy but such practice without any legal justification has faded," the bench observed.



The transport secretary and provincial transport authority were asked to ensure implementation of the order. The education departments will have to provide ID cards without charging a fee from the students, as per the order.

During the hearing, College Education Secretary Pervez Ahmed Sehar clarified that the examination boards are not supposed to charge exam fees up to intermediate level. He further stated that the school and college students also do not have to a pay fee for enrollment, mark sheets or other certificates which are issued by the boards of intermediate and secondary education in the province.

The court directed both departments to publish this information in Urdu, Sindhi and English newspapers twice a month for information of the public. All schools and colleges were also directed to place the official notification with regard to this issue on their notice boards.



Interpreting Article 37 of the Constitution, Justice Panhwar said: "The Article states education as compulsory which means the State has to compel one to study. How can one be compelled [to study] when they are first asked to pay?"

SHC issued a show cause notice to the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Mirpurkhas chairperson because the board was charging a fee for these certificates while also not delivering the documents to schools and colleges in the region.

The division bench also heard a plea that no university existed in any of the three districts of Mirpurkhas, Umerkot and Tharparkar.

The bench issued a notice to the Sindh boards and universities secretary to submit a detailed report stating whether or not the Mirpurkhas division required a university on the basis of its population and distance to the universities in other divisions.

Provincial HEC

After the SHC was apprised that the provincial Higher Education Commission is headed by former federal minister Dr Asim Hussain, the court ordered the provincial government to submit the credentials required for the post.



"... because [the] person, having complete authority in Sindh over affairs of education of all levels, must be free from every stigma," the court observed, giving 15 days to the government for compliance.

Hussain, a close aide of Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, is booked in multi-billion rupees graft cases by the National Accountability Bureau. On the issue of naming educational institutions over individuals, the bench ordered the provincial government to submit the criteria.

"The act of donating a piece of land for education or a school is worth appreciating...there must be [a] criteria to name an institution, particularly relating to the education field."

SHC will resume the hearing of this petition, filed by Advocate Kanji Mal Meghwadh, on September 20.