Sindh orders Karachi private school to roll back unapproved fee increase

KARACHI: The Sindh government has directed a private school in Karachi to withdraw a fee increase imposed during the summer break after finding that the revision had been made without approval from the relevant authority.

In a letter dated July 10 and addressed to the principal and administrator of Veritas Learning Circle (Primary), the Directorate of Inspection and Registration of Private Institutions said the matter was taken up after a hearing held a day earlier on complaints about what it described as an illegal and unusually high increase in fees. The directorate works under the provincial School Education and Literacy Department.

According to the letter, the school had raised tuition charges across all of its campuses without clearance from the registration authority, which the department said was a breach of Rule 7(6) of the Sindh Private Educational Institutions (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2005.

The government body instructed the school to immediately reverse the increase. The letter said the school had enhanced tuition fees without the approval of the registration authority and termed this a violation of the applicable rules. The action followed complaints filed over the fee hike during the summer holidays.