KARACHI: Sindh Additional Advocate General (AAG) Shabir Shah on Wednesday said that after the dismissal of all the petitions by the Sindh High Court, now all the private schools had been bound to give 20pc fee concession to the students as per the decision of the Sindh Cabinet.
He said that the restraining order which was issued earlier would also not come into force after the dismissal of these petitions.
He said this after the Sindh High Court dismissed the petitions filed by the private school associations against the Sindh government’s directives to give 20 per cent concession in school fee to all the students.
Shah, who represented the Sindh government in the case, appraised the court that the Sindh Cabinet, after approving an ordinance regarding concession in school fee, had sent the same to Governor Sindh.
He said that after the approval of changes in the rules by the Sindh cabinet, all private schools had been bound to give 20 per cent concession in their school fee for the months of April and May 2020.
He further said that action would be taken against those schools which would not give concession in school fee after the changes made in the rules by the Sindh cabinet.
He further said that the decision would apply equally to all private schools in Sindh province. It may be recalled that due to the sudden spread of the coronavirus in the province, the Sindh government in one of its decisions had closed all the educational institutes till May 31, after which the parents began to put pressure on the government to at least reduce the school fee for the months during which the schools were closed.
The Sindh High Court earlier had suspended the directives issued by the Directorate of Private Institutions of Directorate of Provincial Education Department to private educational institutions with regard to a mandatory concession of 20 per cent in tuition fee of April and May in the wake of the coronavirus after it was challenged by TYMS education and other private education institutions citing that the respondent had no authority to issue such directives.
However, the Sindh cabinet in its April 27 meeting formally approved a 20 per cent mandatory concession in school fees for the months of April and May, after which the ordinance was sent to the Sindh government in the form of, and on Wednesday Additional Advocate General Sindh informed the Sindh High Court about the decision of the Cabinet in detail.
Following the dismissal of all petitions in the Sindh High Court, the Sindh government on Wednesday issued a new notification stating that all private schools would have to give a 20 per cent concession in school fees for the months of April and May 2020.
