Fee hike: Govt transferring its failure to private institutions: counsels

Schools challenge notification, PEIRA given time to reply.


Rizwan Shehzad November 12, 2015
Schools challenge notification, PEIRA given time to reply. PHOTO: IHC WEBSITE

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday granted more time to the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory (PEIRA) for submitting a reply to the petitions of various schools challenging the government’s decision to restrict fee increases in private schools during the current academic year.

Justice Aamer Farooq granted time to PEIRA to submit a reply on all 20 petition filed by different schools. PEIRA Secretary Javed Iqbal submitted reply on 11 petitions, while the court directed him to submit the remaining before the next hearing.

Meanwhile, Barrister Qasim Wadood filed an application for becoming a party in the case. He would be representing the parents of 14 students from different schools. The court allowed him to contest the matter.

In the previous hearing, the court directed PEIRA and the federal government to submit a reply before November 12.

Earlier, The City School and Beaconhouse had filed petitions. A total of 20 petitioners have now come forward. The two schools, through their counsel Asma Jahangir and Shahid Hamid, respectively, approached the court challenging the government’s September 23 notification, directing the institutions to withdraw raised tuition fees.

The government has issued directives to either refund or adjust the increased fee. While linking the fee increase with the final decision of the court, Hamid submitted that Beaconhouse has asked parents to submit fees as per previous rates.

Jahangir stated that the notification has prohibited City School from increasing fees without PEIRA permission, terming it illegal and arbitrary.

Both counsels argued that the restrictions imposed were in violation of article 18.

They argued that the government has miserably failed to adhere to its constitutional obligation of providing free education to children, adding that the government was trying to transfer the burden of its failure on the shoulders of private educational institutes.

The case will now be taken up on November 25.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13th, 2015.

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