Karachi (Staff Report): The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday ordered private schools not to increase tuition fees by more than five percent.
A larger bench of the high court, headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi and comprising Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Ashraf Jahan, heard petitions filed by over 600 parents challenging the illegal rise in fees in violation of the Sindh Private Educational Institutions (Regulation and Control) Ordinance 2001.
The petitioners said that their children were studying at the private schools located in different areas of Karachi, adding that the schools had raised the fees by 12 to 60 percent imposing a burden on the parents.
The additional advocate general of Sindh submitted that private schools are not allowed to increase fees by more than five percent.
The private schools’ counsel, however, urged the court to adjourn the case as they had challenged the relevant rules in the Supreme Court. He also asked the court to strike down the rules which restrain the private schools from raising fees up to five percent.
The SHC had reserved its judgment on petitions against increases in tuition fees in June this year after hearing the arguments of both sides.
The high court, in its verdict, remarked that private schools have no authority to raise the tuition fee by more than 5 percent.
