Delhi govt to put fee hike orders, financial details of private schools in public domain

The DoE informed the Delhi high court about the decision in an affidavit filed on Tuesday, drawing adverse reactions from schools that said they were examining the order and could challenge it.

In a bid to bring in more transparency, the Delhi government’s directorate of education (DoE) has decided to make public all its orders, accepting or rejecting the proposals of private schools to hike their fees, on its official website, along with financial details -- fee statements, salary expenses, savings, balance sheets and budget, officials said.

The DoE informed the Delhi high court about the decision in an affidavit filed on Tuesday, drawing adverse reactions from schools that said they were examining the order and could challenge it.

The affidavit was submitted as a response to a petition filed by NGO ‘Justice for All’ in July, seeking directions to the respondent (DoE) to upload fee-hike related orders passed by it, along with related file notings and documents.

The court had on July 24 issued a notice to the DoE, asking its stance on the plea.

In its affidavit, the DoE said it will make the mentioned information available on its website solely on the basis of provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, as sought in the petition.

The answering respondent submits that they would, within a period of four months, be able to upload and/or put on their website all the earlier final sanction orders passed by the DoE qua fees increase proposals filed by recognised private unaided schools in Delhi and will continue to upload them,” the DoE stated in the affidavit.

The DoE said it will also put on its website the statement of fees of schools along with annexures as directed in an order by the Supreme Court (Modern School Vs Union of India in 2004), while interpreting Section 17 (3) of Delhi State Education Act, 1973.

According to the Supreme Court judgment, every unaided private school has to maintain financial statements consisting of information such as balance sheets, and profit and loss accounts. The schools are required to file a statement of fees every year with the DoE. The statement includes income of the school derived from fees, current operations expenses towards salaries, provision of donations, and savings, among others.

“The respondent shall also upload on its website the inspection reports and orders passed to correct the statement of fees submitted by recognised unaided schools of Delhi after finalisation of the same,” the DoE affidavit added.

Yogesh Pal Singh, assistant director of education at DoE’s private school branch, said, “there have been several instances in the past when parents complained that private schools increased the fees without prior approval from the DoE or increased the fee more than they were allowed by the directorate.”

“With this move, all relevant information will be available on the official website of the DoE. Parents will now be able to check if schools have got permission for fee hike from the DoE or not in a particular financial year,” Singh said.

Under the land lease agreements, private schools built on government land in Delhi cannot increase fees without DoE’s approval. Once a proposal is sent, the DoE will audit their finances and allow the schools to increase fees only if they are found to be struggling to manage expenses.

Schools operating on private land are not required to take DoE’s approval to increase fees but they have to submit their statement of fees and other financial details with the directorate every year.

The petitioner advocate Khagesh Jha said the move will help both parents and teachers. “Many a time, private schools hire teachers on a contractual basis and do not pay them on a par with permanent teachers. Besides, schools won’t be able to fool parents now by demanding hiked fees without permission from the DoE.”

SK Bhattacharya, president of the action committee of unaided recognised private schools -- an umbrella body of over 400 schools in Delhi -- said they are examining the legality of the DoE’s decision.

“Our legal team will examine what all can be made available in the public domain following provisions of the RTI Act. This kind of order will open a new chapter of unnecessary confrontations between school management and parents.”

Advocate Kamal Gupta, who represents private schools in several fee-related matters, said, “We will file our response and challenge the decision. Disclosure of such information is not only prohibited under the RTI Act but also under the Income Tax Act.”

The Delhi parents association, meanwhile, welcomed the move. Aprajita Gautam, president of the association, said, “We had been demanding that DoE should make public the list of schools permitted to increase fee. Parents should know how schools are functioning and it will bring transparency in the system.”