Failure to reduce tuition fees: Senate panel lambastes education ministry

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel lambasted the Education Ministry on Friday for its inability to ensure a 20 percent cut in monthly tuition fees being charged by the private schools.

The Senate functional committee on delegated legislation, which met here with Raza Rabbani in the chair, noted that the Private Educational Institutions (Registration and Fee Determination) Rules, 2016 were challenged by private educational institutions through a writ petition, and the Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared several sub-rules ultra vires to their parent act, including the schedule II of the rules.

The committee said that the IHC had directed the Education Ministry to rectify the inconsistencies, but it is yet to amend the rules in light of the court’s orders, which is not acceptable.

After a thorough examination, the committee presented a rigorous report, raising various queries regarding regulations that are not in accordance with their parent acts.

However, the Education Ministry assured the committee that draft rules will be forwarded to the Law and Justice Ministry for input within one week.

The secretary for the Law and Justice Ministry assured the committee that opinion will be given on such rules within one week. The committee gave timelines to both ministries to complete the said task.

The committee also raised questions about the status of the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Employees Service Regulations, 1989, which apparently had not been repealed by the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Employees Service Regulations, 2005.

The officials were not able to provide a satisfactory reply to the queries. The committee expressed its reservation about the unpreparedness of the officers.

The National Vocational and Technical Training Commission Act, 2011, and the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission Employees (Service) Regulations, 2018, were also examined during the meeting.

The committee pointed out that the provisos of some rules were in contradiction with the regulations of 2018, and queries were raised about regular, contract, and probation periods. The NAVTTC DG assured that a report would be provided within 10 days.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023