LHC stops govt from taking action against private schools over fee hike

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has stopped the government from taking action against private schools, charging massive fees and issued notices to Punjab government for November 05.

Asma Jahangir and Shahid Hamid presented private schools in the court where Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza heard 15 identical petitions.

In the petitions, the private schools have challenged Punjab Private Educational Institutions and Regulation Amendment Ordinance 2015.

They contended that the amended ordinance by the provincial government is against the some clauses of the constitution and the schools charge fee with the consent of parents without pressurizing them.

The Punjab government had issued an ordinance, prohibiting private schools from increasing their fee this year.

The ordinance was promulgated by Punjab Governor, Muhammad Rafique Rajwana.

The ordinance restricts the private schools in Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Rawalpindi from raising students’ fee this year.

It also provides that schools intending to raise fee in the next year will have to take prior permission from the concerned authority.