The Supreme Court has said that private schools can not increase fees by more than five percent without prior approval.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa heard a case in this regard on Wednesday.
During the proceedings, the court observed that the profit of private school owners had risen exponentially as they have been hiking fees on their own since 1986.
The private school counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan responded that the inflation rate was also shooting to new heights and said it isn’t right to stop schools from increasing fees.
To this, the CJP remarked that the salaries of parents did not raise parallel to the inflation; hence, allowing a fee hike will mean over-burdening them.
Justice Ijaz remarked that the schools should not be allowed to turn into “profit earning” factories and said that they must stick to the previously allowed 5% annual increment.
He added that the schools in Sindh can increase fees after three years, suggesting the matter of fee could be reconsidered at the time of license validation.
The schools’ counsel noted that the prices of gas would be increased by 80 percent until 2020. “Should the schools be allowed to raise fees by 80 percent as well?” Justice Ijaz questioned.
The Chief Justice suggested that schools should only increase fees more than five percent at the time of license renewal.
The hearing was adjourned till Thursday.