SC clubs petitions: Pleas against fee hikes to be taken up next month

Private schools told to ‘defend themselves’

ISLAMABAD: It seems protests by parents against the arbitrary fee hikes by private schools has finally caught the attention of the top jurist in the country with the apex court on Tuesday deciding to club all petitions in this regard and issuing notices to private schools.

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Mian Saqib Nisar on Tuesday clubbed all case of fee hikes by private educational institutions, pending before the high courts and different registries of the Supreme Court. Declaring the cases as maintainable, he summoned their case records.

This was decided as a three-member bench of the apex court led by CJP Nisar heard a case on fees of private schools.



The court made eight private schools a party to the case and fixed it for hearing.

"The schools will have to defend themselves," the top judge remarked.

He noted that the matter was of significant importance and that they will take a decision after closely reviewing the matter. The apex court will begin hearing the case on October 4. It is pertinent to note that petitions against fee hikes imposed by private schools are being heard by the Sindh High Court (SHC), Islamabad High Court (IHC), Lahore High Court (LHC) and Peshawar High Court (PHC).

The PHC had restricted educational institutions to charge only 50 per cent of the fee from students during summer vacations. The IHC, on the other hand, had barred private schools in the federal capital from charging tuition in advance during summer vacations. A full bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) had declared hikes in tuition fees charged by private schools by more than five per cent of the last fee schedule was illegal. The court had further directed schools to either refund the excess amount or adjust it in future fees within three months.

According to the 18 Amendment, all decisions pertaining to education will fall under the domain of provincial governments, which are also responsible for the curriculum and all other matters pertaining to schools.



Parents of school-going children have been urging the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take a suo moto notice of the unbridled hike in school fees, unjustified profits by school owners and substandard education in government schools which they claim are ruining the future of the country.

Holding placards inscribed with appeals and slogans against the schools, parents and students have protested outside the National Press Club in recent weeks. They claimed that the ratio of profit for schools had increased manifolds because rules drafted by the capital’s private school regulatory authority were not being implemented owing to prolonged litigation.

Parents from the twin cities urged Chief Justice Nisar to club all cases on school fees, which are pending in various courts, and hear them on a priority basis to resolve the issue.  

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th, 2018.