Matriculation exams: LHC rejects request to stop collection of new fees
Petitioner says higher fees for private students is discriminatory.
LAHORE:
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday declined to issue a stay order on a notification raising the Matriculation exam fee for private students ahead of the payment due date on December 24.
The petitioner has asked the court to suspend a Finance Department notification of May 12 which imposed a new examination fee only on private school students of grades 9 and 10 in the sciences.
The petitioner’s lawyer sought a stay on the notification, saying that the Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education would otherwise start collecting the new fees from December 24.
The judge dismissed the stay order request and issued notice to the education secretary for a response to the plea. The petitioner’s lawyer angrily asked the judge to reconsider, saying that without a stay order, the petition would become pointless after that date.
The judge replied that he had gone through the petition and made his decision, so the lawyer should stop wasting the court’s time. After arguing for a while longer, the advocate let the room.
Earlier, the petitioner submitted that the charging of fees exclusively from private students was discriminatory. He said that the government intended to charge private students Rs550 as a ‘certificate fee’ and Rs200 as an examination form processing fee. These fees were to be paid at the time of admission, which was unfair since many students would drop out before sitting the exams, and many would not pass and thus not get a Matriculation certificate.
He asked the court to set aside the notification before December 24.
The court will take up the petition again on a date to be fixed by the LHC registrar’s office.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2012.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday declined to issue a stay order on a notification raising the Matriculation exam fee for private students ahead of the payment due date on December 24.
The petitioner has asked the court to suspend a Finance Department notification of May 12 which imposed a new examination fee only on private school students of grades 9 and 10 in the sciences.
The petitioner’s lawyer sought a stay on the notification, saying that the Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education would otherwise start collecting the new fees from December 24.
The judge dismissed the stay order request and issued notice to the education secretary for a response to the plea. The petitioner’s lawyer angrily asked the judge to reconsider, saying that without a stay order, the petition would become pointless after that date.
The judge replied that he had gone through the petition and made his decision, so the lawyer should stop wasting the court’s time. After arguing for a while longer, the advocate let the room.
Earlier, the petitioner submitted that the charging of fees exclusively from private students was discriminatory. He said that the government intended to charge private students Rs550 as a ‘certificate fee’ and Rs200 as an examination form processing fee. These fees were to be paid at the time of admission, which was unfair since many students would drop out before sitting the exams, and many would not pass and thus not get a Matriculation certificate.
He asked the court to set aside the notification before December 24.
The court will take up the petition again on a date to be fixed by the LHC registrar’s office.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2012.