October 10, 2006	Tuesday	Ramazan 16, 1427

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, Oct 9: The Supreme Court has observed that private educational institutions can be of great help to the government provided they are not run on commercial basis.

“The education sector should not be allowed to run on commercial basis,” Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry observed on Monday during suo motu proceedings on complaints regarding high fee structures of different private schools.

One Rafiqul Islam of Faisalabad and some parents of students of CAS School Karachi had sent applications to the chief justice inviting his attention to fees of these institutions.

“I can tell you there are certain schools in our country where there are only one or two teachers available for all students,” the CJ observed, adding that there was also mushroom growth of private schools in bungalows or houses without proper playgrounds or indoor games facilities.

The bench also appreciated the Sindh government initiative of enacting the Sindh Private Educational Institutions Regularisation and Control Act 2003 to regulate private educational institutions.

Advocate General Sindh Anwar Mansoor Khan informed the court that directions had been issued to different schools to adhere to the provisions of the law. He said it was in his knowledge that certain schools in the province did not have the subject of Islamic Studies.

He submitted that Section 6 of the act was aimed at regulating fee structure and checking ratio between fees and salaries of teachers. He stated that his office was also cooperating with the provincial education ministry in implementation of the law and issue of abnormal fee structures would soon be resolved.

Additional Advocate General Punjab Chaudhry Muhammad Hussain submitted that the Punjab government had formed a committee to examine relevant rules. He sought a copy of the Sindh government’s law for guidance.

The court directed the Punjab government to take effective steps and file a report within four months.

Advocate General Balochistan Salahuddin Mengal submitted that he would recommend to the provincial government to constitute a similar committee to look into the issue.

Advocate M Bilal representing the NWFP government sought time to examine existing provincial laws regulating educational affairs in the province.

Deputy Attorney General Raja Irshad said he would file a statement on behalf of the federal government on the situation in Islamabad.