Staff Reporter :The High Court has postponed the VAT (Value Added Tax) on the tuition fees of English-medium schools for six months.The HC bench of Justice Shamim Hasnain and Justice Mohammad Ullah issued the order on Thursday in response to a writ petition filed by a guardian of two students of an English-medium school. The bench also issued a rule asking the government why the decision of imposing VAT would not be declared illegal and the Education Secretary, the Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and the Secretary of Internal Resources Division have been made respondents.Coincidentally, the HC bench passed the order when the students, the guardians and the teachers of English-medium schools were staging anti-VAT demonstration in the capital city. They under the banner of Bangladesh English-Medium School Association formed a human chain on Satmasjid Road in the city’s Dhanmondi area. Students, guardians and officials of Siddques International School, European International School, Daffodil International School, Maple Leaf School, Academia School and Universal Tutorial School joined the programme. Bearing placards, they chanted slogans “No VAT, No VAT”. The placards also said, “We are not product”, “Education is not a commodity”, and “Why VAT on education: why such discriminatory?”The students, the teachers and the guardians started their move against the VAT, three days after the government withdrew 7.5 per cent VAT on tuition fees in private universities in the face of mass protests throughout the country. On Wednesday, the guardian filed the writ petition with the High Court seeking removal of the tax, which the court heard on Thursday. Supreme Court lawyer Shahdeen Malik argued for the petitioner. “There is no VAT in Bangla-medium schools and colleges, but it has been imposed on English-medium school, which is discriminatory and goes against the spirit of the Constitution,” said M Manjur Alam, who assisted Shahdeen Malik.According to teachers and students of the English-medium schools, the government imposed a 4.5 per cent VAT on fees and services in English-medium schools in 2010. Last year, it was raised to 7.5 per cent.
