School fees: Centre, Punjab asked to submit replies

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) observed on Friday that it was giving the “last opportunity” to the federal and Punjab governments for submitting replies on a petition seeking implementation of Article 25 of the Constitution which calls for provision of free education to children up to 16 years of age. Justice Sajid Mehmood Sethi heard the petition filed by Judicial Activism Panel chairman Azhar Siddique. Siddique had submitted that it was state’s responsibility to provide free of cost education to all children. He said the government had been focusing on infrastructure projects like Metro Bus and Orange Line Train. He said private schools were fleecing the public. He requested the court to order the governments to suspend the notification issued by some private schools for a raise in the fees. The hearing was put off till October 16.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2015.