RAHIM YAR KHAN: The district administration and school education department have failed to check implementation on the Supreme Court’s decision regarding four elite private schools in the city and fee reduction on their part in compliance with an earlier court order.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench had ordered private schools to slash their fees by 20 per cent and return 50pc of the amount they received for the 2018 summer vacation. But private schools did not issue revised fee vouchers.

The deadline for all private schools to reduce and return or adjust summer vacation fee was Feb 13. Later, the schools filed a review petition over cancellation of 50pc summer vacation fee, but their writ was disposed of on Monday.

Punjab Minister for School Education Murad Raas on Jan 10 had said that registration of private schools would be cancelled after Feb 12 if they failed to comply with court orders. Only one out of the four elite schools in Rahim Yar Khan -- Lahore Grammar School (LGS) – had implemented the court order, but Sheikh Khalifa Public School (SKPS), Beaconhouse School System (BSS) and The City School (TCS) neither reduced their fee by 20pc nor returned the 50pc summer vacation fee.

LGS Principal Fatima told this correspondent that her school re-issued fee vouchers for January, February, March after reducing 20pc fee and the voucher for April, May, June after adjusting 50pc summer vacation fee were issued on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Jamil Ahmed Jamil with District Education Authority (DEA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Malik Mukhtar and Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Revenue Dr Jahanzeb Hussain had called a meeting of principals of all elite private schools and instructed them to issue revised fee vouchers till Feb 13, but to no avail.

The Sheikh Khalifa Public School administration claimed that the fee vouchers for February and March had been issued with reduced fee and the 50pc summer vacation fee will be adjusted in the vouchers for April-May. The administration had raised the fee up to 8pc in December 2018 after a decision of the Board of Management chaired by the DC.

BSS headmistress Anjum Kiwan did not respond despite repeated attempts to contact her.

A BSS student’s father Nadeem said that the school had not yet issued fee vouchers for January and February.

TCS Vice Principal Fayyaz Ahmed said that the reduced fee vouchers for two months will be issued in two weeks however he could not give a deadline.

CEO Mukhtar claimed that he was planning to take action against the private schools that did not comply with court orders, and conduct their audit soon. However the SKPS was a welfare institution and not a private school, he added.

Punjab Minister for Schools Education Murad Raas told Dawn that parents should file their complaints at the education CEO’s office on Hall Road, Lahore. During a press conference with the Lahore DC on Tuesday he had said that the parents should submit a letter to the CEO’s office that the fee had not been reduced after which the government would issue a show-cause notice to the particular school. And if the school still did not reduce the fee it would be closed.

The Supreme Court order will be fully implemented and in case of failure the DC and department CEO would be held responsible, he added.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2019

Opinion

Editorial

‘Source of terror’
Updated 29 Mar, 2024

‘Source of terror’

It is clear that going after militant groups inside Afghanistan unilaterally presents its own set of difficulties.
Chipping in
29 Mar, 2024

Chipping in

FEDERAL infrastructure development schemes are located in the provinces. Most such projects — for instance,...
Toxic emitters
29 Mar, 2024

Toxic emitters

IT is concerning to note that dozens of industries have been violating environmental laws in and around Islamabad....
Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...