English Schools: SC stays HC verdict on readmission, session fees

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court stayed a High Court verdict, which had in 2017 declared the fees charged for annual readmission and session by English medium schools illegal.

The apex court, however, upheld an HC directive that asked the English medium schools to observe the national days with due respect to the Bangalee culture and to introduce their students to the works and contributions of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, world famous poet Rabindranath Tagore, national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam and other famous Bangalee personalities, said Deputy Attorney General Samarendranath Biswas while speaking to The Daily Star.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed, the order on Sunday after granting a leave to appeal petition filed by the principal of Green Dale International School challenging the HC verdict.

The leave to appeal petition has now become a regular appeal against the HC verdict and the Appellate Division later delivers a final verdict on the appeal through a hearing, the DAG added.

Green Dale International School principal's lawyer M Asaduzzaman could not be reached over phone for his comments on the issue.

Following two separate writ petitions filed by two guardians in 2012 and 2014, challenging the legality of the fees, the HC on May 25, 2017 declared the annual readmission and session fees charged by English medium schools illegal.

The HC also issued a set of directives for running the educational institutions in a smooth and transparent manner.

It said a managing committee must be formed in every English medium school as per the Private (English medium) School and College Ordinance 1962 and the Private English Medium School Registration Rules 2007.

The committee must have representatives from the guardians, the teachers and the school authorities. It would have to hold meetings on a regular basis and appoint teachers and staff members through newspaper advertisements.

The committee would determine the admission and tuition fee along with the salaries and other benefits of the teachers and other employees. The owners would not be allowed to interfere in school activities, said the court.

The committee would audit the accounts of the schools and make the audit reports available to all parents and on the websites of the institutions.

In the judgment, the court also said the managing committee would work to ensure that a child spends less than the current four years to get promoted to grade-1 from playgroup.