The Sindh government has decided to initiate strict legal action against private schools that have charged students of Class X fees for June and July 2026 during the summer vacation period.
In a circular issued to heads of schools, the additional registrar of the Directorate of Inspection and Registration of Private Institutions Sindh, Professor Rafia Mallah, stated that the directorate had been receiving continuous complaints that private schools had illegally collected fees for April, May, June and July from students who appeared in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations this year.
According to the circular, school administrations have been justifying the fee collection on the grounds that students were appearing in practical examinations being conducted at their respective schools during April and May, and therefore the fees were being charged for that purpose.
However, the additional registrar clarified that such justification was entirely unlawful as practical examination charges were already included in the monthly tuition fee structure and no additional fee could legally be collected on that account.
Prof Mallah further said that some school administrations were also defending the collection of June and July fees by arguing that their academic session had commenced in August 2025 and therefore they were entitled to collect fees until July 2026.
She maintained that schools which had started their academic year in August had already violated the decision of the steering committee, and therefore collection of fees up to July was also illegal.
The directorate recalled that through a letter issued on April 22, 2026, all private schools had already been clearly instructed to refund all fees collected from students for the period between April and July 2026, failing which strict legal action would be initiated against them. The circular once again directed all concerned school administrations to immediately refund the illegally collected June and July fees to matriculation students.
It warned that in case of non-compliance, strict legal proceedings would be initiated against the schools concerned, including imposition of fines, suspension or cancellation of registration, and referral of the matter to the relevant educational board for further action under the rules. The directorate also instructed inspection committees to visit such schools.
