PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has disposed of nine petitions about private school fee issues asking parents and schools to take up such with the regulator before approaching it for relief.

A bench consisting of Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Mohammad Naeem Anwar ruled that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Private Schools Regulatory Authority was the competent forum to decide disputes on private school fee.

It added that the PSRA Act and PSRA Regulations had a complete mechanism for the resolution of such disputes, so it won’t be appropriate to move the court for the purpose before approaching the regulatory authority.

Rules PSRA competent forum to decide such matters

While vacating a stay order issued in July, the bench allowed private schools to recover arrears from students on account of summer vacation fee in easy installments equivalent to 25 percent every month.

It ruled that if the regulator failed to decide the matter judiciously, didn’t address complaints of the aggrieved persons or failed to act as required by the law, only then the court could consider a petition in line with Article 199 of the Constitution.

The bench ruled that the petitions were not maintainable.

The court also took note of the registration of different schools by PSRA without conducting any inquiry regarding the space/premises, playgrounds and other facilities and observed that the existing private schools at different levels didn’t comply with the requirements as provided in the Act and Regulations and no action was taken against them despite the passage of a year.

The bench directed the PSRA to enforce the Act/Regulations in this respect forthwith.

“The opening of the office of the authority at District and Tehsil level would be more appropriate, in order to have a force and command,” it ruled.

The court observed that though he Regulations were comprehensive, no effective decision had been made so far to the extent of fee for pick and drop service especially during vacation. The authority and the relevant committee were told to make a decision about it within 60 days.

The court ruled that the daily physical training should be made compulsory in schools.

It ruled that some petitions, which were filed by schools when the PSRA barred them from collecting summer vacation fee and their premises were sealed, had become infructuous as the impugned notifications were already withdrawn by the PSRA.

The court declined to give any direction to the schools or PSRA regarding any fee related issue.

“As regarding charging of fee (all types of fee i.e. annual charges/ promotion fee and monthly fee) this court cannot give any direction in view of the regulations so notified as already held that the alternate remedy is available.”

The court observed that Regulation 7 had been introduced according to which regulatory authority shall establish fee regulation committee and the said committee shall devise criteria for categorisation of schools, maximum fee to be charged from students in each category and minimum remuneration payable to a teacher of the school.

It added that the Supreme Court in its recent judgment on May 9, 2019, while dilating upon the issue in reference to Punjab and Sindh, had provided a Cap in between five per cent and eight per cent annual fee increase.

The bench ruled that the authority should consider that judgment as the regulations of KP provides the cap was up to 10 per cent, which is a debatable issue keeping in view the living standard and earning capacity of individuals in this part of the country.

It had reserved its judgment on the petitions on Sept 25 after lawyers for students, private schools, government and PSRA finished arguments.

On Sept 26, the bench had announced a short order revealing different directions would be given to different bodies in its detailed judgment.

One of the major petitions was filed by Peshawar District Bar Association challenging different aspects of fee structures in private schools and certain provisions of KPPSRA Act, 2017 including allowing 10 percent annual increase in fee to schools, charging of annual fee and other fees by schools other than tuition fee, charging summer vacation fee despite a stay order by the high court etc.

Different schools had challenged a circular issued by PSRA on May 30, 2019, wherein it had ordered all the institutions not to charge summer/ winter vacations fee till further order. Some of these schools have also challenged the sealing of their premises by the PSRA when they had issued fee challan to students.

The high court had issued a stay order on July 3 in favour of students and had restrained the private schools from charging any sort of fee from students till next date. In the meantime, the PSRA had withdrawn the said circular on Sept 6.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2019