Supreme Court lifts ban on session fees at English-medium schools

The Supreme Court has frozen a four-year-old High Court ruling that barred English-medium schools from taking session fees from students graduating to a new class.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 3 Jan 2021, 02:27 PM
Updated : 3 Jan 2021, 03:40 PM

A virtual Appellate Division bench led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the orders on Sunday after accepting a challenge to the High Court verdict.

The top court upheld some directives from the High Court ruling, including instructions to the management committees, the need to place more importance on Bangla, the national days and celebrations of Bengali culture.

he parents of two students filed a writ petition in 2013 seeking an order for guidelines on operating the English-medium schools following a media report on the method of education in those institutions.   

After initial hearing of another petition by the parents, the High Court on Apr 23, 2014 ordered the schools to suspend the session fees.

The court passed the verdict on May 25, 2017 after hearing the rules issued over both petitions.

The principal of Green Dale International School in Dhaka’s Gulshan on Nov 2 moved the Appellate Division seeking permission to challenge the High Court ruling.

Lawyers Md Asaduzzaman and Anisul Hasan argued for the petitioner at the hearing. Deputy Attorney General Samarendra Biswas represented the state.

The Appellate Division has accepted the petition and stayed the High Court verdict except for the directive No. 17, said Anisul.

The High Court’s directives included:

1. Managing committees must be formed in line with the Registration of Private Schools Ordinance 1962.

2. Guardian representatives must be elected in a transparent manner; their voices must be heard.

3. No more backdoor appointment of teachers. They must be appointed on merit through proper screening. Owners of schools must not influence the recruitment of teachers.

4. Schools are no longer allowed to impose so-called session/academic fees on students graduating to the next class.

5. Managing committees will determine admission or tuition fees. Guardians’ opinions must be taken into account. Fees must be published on websites.

6. Schools must publish all audit reports online and guardians must be provided with copies of the reports.

7. Students must be introduced to observance of national days and icons in Bangla literature, such as Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam.

8. Students must be introduced to the glorious stories of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Bangladesh's language and Liberation War martyrs.

9. More emphasis on Bangla in classes.