PHOTO: EXPRESS
The court further ordered them to issue within two days examination forms of the Cambridge International Examinations to the students. It told them to restore the admission of a student, Taha Muneeb, which was cancelled over non-payment of an additional fee.
These directives came in a case filed against the management of BSS over demanding increased tuition fee allegedly in violation of the government orders of not hiking the fee beyond 5%.
The judges were told that the court had earlier issued a restraining order, directing the BSS management to not increase tuition fee by more than 5%.
Parents protest against fee hike by private schools
However, it was alleged that the management had issued notices to various students for cancellation of their admission in case their parents did not pay excessive fee. The BSS management had also cancelled Muneeb's admission for the same reason.
It was argued that the school management's action was a clear and deliberate violation of the court's order. Therefore, contempt of the court's order proceedings may be initiated against those responsible for wilfully and deliberately committing it.
On Friday, the court was informed that the school's management was not issuing fee challans to those students who had moved the court against demands for increased fee. On the other hand, their admissions were being cancelled over non-payment of fee.
Case history
Last year, the court had issued notices to the administrators of The City School, Foundation Public School (FPS) and BSS and restrained them from charging more than a 5% increase in fee till the next date.
Parents demand end to fee hike for private schools
The parents of more than 200 students, currently studying in different private schools, had moved the court against the fresh hike in tuition fee. They had named the provincial education department's secretary, the director of education and administrators of FPS, Headstart School, BSS and The City School as respondents.
In their pleas, the petitioners said their children were currently studying in different classes at these private educational institutes, where the management had recently increased the tuition fee for different grades all of a sudden. The parents said they were informed through letters about the exorbitant fee increase.
The judges were told that due to the unprecedented hike in the fee, their children will be deprived of their basic right to get high-quality education, thus putting their futures at stake.
It was argued that the raise in fee was in violation of the Sindh Private Educational Institutions (Regulation and Control) Ordinances of 2003 and 2015, which permitted an increase of not more than 5% annually.
SHC reserves verdict on recent hike in schools' tuition fee
Yet, school managements have increased the fee by 10% to 12%, which is a violation of the law, as well as the notification issued by the education department wherein only a 5% increase had been prescribed by the government, the parents alleged.
The court was pleaded to declare the exorbitant hike in fees beyond 5% as illegal and restrain school managements from taking any action against their children for the purpose of collecting the increased fee.
They also sought the establishment of a monitoring body to scrutinise the increase in fee.
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