Secretary summonedin school fee hike case

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday sought personal appearance of Punjab secretary for schools education to explain alleged failure of the government to implement a decision of the Supreme Court against increase in fee by private schools.

Justice Sajid Mahmood Sethi was hearing a petition moved by Judicial Activism Panel’s chairman Advocate Azhar Siddique for protection of citizens’ right to free education under Article 25-A of the Constitution.

During the hearing, the lawyer argued that the Constitution provided the right to free education but private schools were a main hurdle to enforcement of the law. He said the private schools had become an industry and they were only interested in filling their pockets making the quality education a luxury. He argued that it was the responsibility of the state to protect the fundamental rights of its citizens and education was indeed a fundamental right. He submitted that profits accumulated by private institutions were unreasonable and the state had to act as the regulator to protect the right of its citizens.