LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday ruled that the mechanism provided to fix a reasonable fee structure in private educational institutions, through section 7-A of Punjab Private Educational Institutions (Promotion and Regulation) Ordinance, 1984 was a valid legislation, reported a private media outlet.
This order was passed by a three-judge full bench, moved by private schools challenging certain sub-clauses of section 7-A of the Punjab Private Educational Institutions (Promotion and Regulation) Ordinance, 1984 inserted during 2015.
The bench was led by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh and also had Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza and Justice Shahid Karim on it.
The LHC also directed the provincial government to notify “The Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2014” to ensure the implementation of the fundamental right of education under Article 25-A of the Constitution so that the private schools realise their responsibility for free education.
However, the court ruled that the maximum limit in an increase of annual fee at the rate of five per cent and eight per cent under the amended act in 2016 and 2017 respectively was an unreasonable and disproportionate restriction on the fundamental rights of private schools.