ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday rejected the Private Schools Association’s (PSA) request seeking a stay order against Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) notification pertaining to twenty per cent discount in students’ tuition fee during the two month vacations.
Sending the matter to PEIRA, Justice Aamer Farooq of the IHC remarked that private schools should have announced the discounts themselves in wake of a global pandemic.
At the outset of the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel pleaded that PEIRA had issued a notification on April 8, regarding fee reduction without hearing the private schools association’s stance. He said that PEIRA didn’t take the concerned stakeholders into confidence and notified the fee structure without keeping in view the schools’ problems.
He prayed the court to suspend the notification of PEIRA. Justice Aamer Farooq remarked that the private schools should have announced relief for the students themselves in the current scenario. He remarked that it wouldn’t cost heavy on private schools if they didn’t earn profit for two months.
The bench remarked that if the decision was reviewed the student fee could be reduced 15 per cent or it could be fifty per cent.
There was an extraordinary situation prevailing in the country, the court remarked and asked the petition whether it had approached the federal government in this regard.
The court rejected the petition of private schools and sent the matter to PEIRA again.
