Sindh education dept orders private schools to return extra fees

KARACHI: Private schools increasing tuition fees by more than 5% will have to return the extra-charged amount, stated the education department quoting an order on the matter from Sindh High Court.

According to the education department, registration will be cancelled of those schools that will not return the extra money to parents/guardians of students.

On September 3, SHC barred private schools from increasing their tuition fee more than 5%.

A three-judge larger bench of the SHC comprising Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Ashraf Jehan announced their verdict in an earlier reserved judgment on pleas filed by parents regarding the increase in school fee.

An increase of more than 5% in the tuition fee charged by schools is illegal, the bench ruled.

During the hearing, the lawyer representing students’ parents said that the salaries paid to teachers do not even make up 50%t of the school expenditure. School earnings should be considered along with their expenditure, the counsel said.

Meanwhile, the additional advocate general argued that an increase in school fee has to do with basic rights.

The power to increase school fee should lie with the provincial government, he added.

The bench then announced its judgment declaring an increase of more than five per cent as illegal.