High fee: Contempt petition filing ordered against Education Dept officials, private schools body head

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday directed additional registrar judicial to file contempt of court petition against officials of the Education Department, chairmen of Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education and head of the Private Schools Associations for failing to implement decision of the court refraining the private educational institutions from charging high fees.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Musarrat Hilali directed the high court additional registrar to file the petition against the officials for non-compliance with the court verdict.

The officials include vice-chancellor and registrar of the University of Peshawar, principal/headmistress University Model School, Secretary Elementary and Secondary Education Saleem Khan Saleem, Secretary Higher Education Department, chief secretary, Fazle Rehman, chairman Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Peshawar, Shaukat Hayat, chairman Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Mardan, Abdur Raqib, chairman of Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Kohat and chairman Private Schools Association.

The bench summoned the respondents including DIG Traffic to appear on the next hearing in the court to be held on April 24.

The bench was hearing writ petition filed by several lawyers, seeking implementation of the court judgment that had refrained private educational institutions from charging high fees.

Peshawar Bar Association President Muhammad Zulfiqar Khalil, General Secretary Arbab Azhar Khan and other lawyers including Farman Ali, Tahir Ali Khalil, Hamidullah and Shah Faisal filed the petition through their legal counsels Abbas Khan Sangeen and Shakeel Aman.

During hearing, Abbas Khan Sangeen and Shakeel Aman submitted that the lawyers’ want implementation of the court judgment as private educational institutions were charging promotional and annual fee from the parents in violation of the court’s decision.

They pointed out that in the detailed judgment the high court had directed the additional registrar judicial of the high court to file contempt of court petition against the respondents and private educational institutions in case the judgment was not implemented within three months.

The petitioners said four months had passed to the decision and now the educational institutions were openly violating the decision on fee.

They requested the court to direct the respondents to strictly comply with the court judgment in letter and spirit.

The court was requested to direct the private schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to follow the guidelines mentioned in the judgment for the schools and refrain from demanding high fee including promotion fee, security fee, examination fee, canteen fee, sibling fee and management charges.

“Being the month of fresh admission in schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the private schools in violation of the court judgment have started harassing the parents by demanding extra charges,” the lawyers said in the petition.

“It is high time to check the overall activities of the private schools/institutions and for that matter, we (court) are of the view to put complete ban on any fresh new opening of the school right from playgroup/primary level to the intermediate level, unless and until the regulatory authority so constituted for private educational institutions formulates the policy, law and regulations to the extent that building in which the schools is to be operational must have area for playgroup, assembly premises, hall, furniture, libraries, washrooms, water facilities and laboratory,” stated the judgment, authored by Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth.

The court directed the regulatory authority to check the tuition fee, annual fee, canteen fee, and management charges being demanded by the schools.

The judgment said the regulatory authority shall formulate a uniform policy on the fee including annual and tuition fee and charging extra then that shall be banned completely.

It said the institutions shall not charge more than half of the tuition fee from the second and third children of the same parents and there shall be compulsory Physical Training (PT) classes.

The court had directed the regulatory authority to take effective measures against corporal punishment and ensure minimum number of students in a class.

The court had also declared that there shall be no increase in the annual and tuition fee in the private educational institutions until and unless the regulatory authority formulates a uniform policy.