After receiving complaints from parents against arbitrary fee hike by a school, the UT district education officer (DEO) has written to all private schools to submit details of the fees charged over the last three academic sessions, including 2023-2024.
The letter was sent after some parents complained that a private school had hiked the annual fees beyond 8% in violation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act and the Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutions Act, 2016, adopted by Chandigarh in 2018.
While officials revealed that complaints were against a private school in Sector 41, they said so far, no wrongdoing had been found on the institution’s part. The education department will investigate the matter further, while all private schools have been reminded to follow the RTE Act guidelines.
UT DEO Bindu Arora said the letter had been sent as a precautionary measure to remind schools not to hike fees beyond 8%. “Usually, a reminder is sent before the start of the new academic session to warn schools of action if rules are flouted. It will take a few days for all schools to submit the sought data,” she added.
Stating that the letter is a timely initiative, president of the Chandigarh Parents’ Association, Nitin Goyal said, “We have also been receiving complaints and if found true, the authorities must act on them. Even an 8% fee hike is not mandatory. Schools have assets worth crores, so they must be more humane and hike fees by a smaller percentage.”
{{/usCountry}}Stating that the letter is a timely initiative, president of the Chandigarh Parents’ Association, Nitin Goyal said, “We have also been receiving complaints and if found true, the authorities must act on them. Even an 8% fee hike is not mandatory. Schools have assets worth crores, so they must be more humane and hike fees by a smaller percentage.”
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, president of Independent Schools’ Association (ISA), HS Mamik said, “Schools are very careful with this stipulation and it is unlikely that any school would have gone beyond 8% or 8.1% fee hike at most.”
Among the recognised private schools in the city, 38 are senior secondary, 18 high, 13 middle, seven primary and three playway schools.
In 2020, after the UT administration had directed private schools to upload their balance sheets on their websites, ISA had challenged the order till the Supreme Court that had ultimately reversed UT’s decision in May 2022.