KARACHI: Sindh Education Minister Sardar Shah has warned the private schools that their registration will be cancelled if they increase the tuition fees by more than 5 per cent and do not return the extra amount charged to the parents and guardians of students.
The minister went on to say that the government will enforce the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) order, which barred increase of fee by more than 5 per cent by private schools.
A three-judge larger bench of the SHC comprising Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Ashraf Jehan had announced the verdict in an earlier reserved judgment on pleas filed by parents regarding the increase in school fee.
As the hearing went underway, the lawyer of the parents said that the salaries paid to teachers did not even make up 50 per cent of the school expenditure. School earnings should be considered along with their expenditure, he said.
Later, the education department issued a statement according to which private schools that had increased the tuition fees by more than 5 per cent were asked to return the extra charged amount.
In March, the SHC also declared illegal a hike in private school fees.
The SHC, during a hearing on a petition against a government notification on a hike in private school fees in the province, rendered the notification void.
The court also barred private schools in the province from charging late fee surcharges and additional fees onto existing school fees.
