ISLAMABAD - The worrisome of parents due to exorbitant fee charges of different private schools finally invited the attention of Supreme Court which on Tuesday directed more than 15 private school owners including City School to submit their audit details of their institutions.

Observing that the fee of schools shall not be at whim of the owners and unreasonable profiting will not be allowed, the top court further hinted at conducting forensic audit of private schools. “This court has to determine what could be the reasonable charges. The parents want their children to be educated with high standards but it must not exceed their affordability,” observed the Chief Justice who was heading a three-judge bench hearing different appeals filed by parents and schools.

He, however, observed that this court would apply the rule of proportionality adding that the rule of proportionality could not be applied without knowing the finances of schools. “If Rs.500 are being earned on Rs.100 then this will not be proportionate,” the chief justice observed. The bench directed to submit the audit details by coming Saturday.

At the outset of the hearing, the chief justice told the counsel Shahzad Ilahi, appearing on behalf of The City School, that the latter’s client wanted there should be no restrictions if it charged Rs.1 million of Rs.50,000 as fee on the pretext of right of business and that the client wanted no one to regulate it.  The counsel argued before the court that the question before the court was not the quantum of fee but the increase ratio on fee. The chief justice, however, remarked that this court could determine the fee structure of private schools because right of education was the fundamental right of every person.

He further remarked that the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP) had also devised the policy on the issue. Justice Ijazul Ahsan, member of the bench, questioned the components of determination of fee charges.

He also lamented that instead of paying taxes by the owners, the same burden was passed on to parents.  During the hearing, Ilahi informed the court that every province should have its own regulatory authority.

During the hearing, the counsel Faisal Siddiqui, on behalf of parents, informed the court that the owners of private schools claimed they were not earning profits but their branches had been increasing. He requested for forensic audit of schools.  The chief justice observed that our religion also told to go China for learning adding that the education was the common factor of developed countries. Addressing the counsels of private school owners, the chief justice said, “you have indulged into business and profit-making leaving behind the basic purpose of education.”

He also said that these private schools were taking over the education system slowly and gradually. He the questioned what should be the reasonable fee. During the hearing, the bench remarked that it could check with the tax authorities if the owners were filing their tax returns or not.  The chief justice also lamented over vacuum created between public and private schools.  "People normally draw a salary of Rs100,000 to Rs150,000 per month so how is a man who has three children supposed to pay a fee of Rs30,000 per child? There has to be fee regularisation," chief justice further observed.

He further observed that education policy for private schools was inevitable under the circumstances when fees were imposed on the whims of the school owners. During the hearing, Advocate Latif Khosa who was present during the hearing informed the court that there were three different kinds of education systems being operated in the country and students of all three of them hate each other.

Endorsing the point, the chief justice remarked, “a sense of hatred has been created due to different education systems and a child of an education system even does not like to see a child of another education system.”

The chief justice also observed that he received reports on daily basis regarding consumption of drugs in private schools.

"In expensive schools, janitorial staff is involved in facilitating to provide the drugs to children. I do not want to name schools but this practice is mostly in expensive and famous schools," he remarked. He remarked that much work had been carried out on this aspect and the court would look into it as well.

He further observed that he wanted everyone to have the same syllabus, same books and even same uniforms. The bench then directed all concerned to sit under the chairmanship of Federal Ombudsman for devising policy and regulation on the issue.  The hearing of the case was then adjourned for two weeks.