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HT Chandigarh Our Take: Transparency key in maintaining private school accounts
The Independent Schools’ Association has challenged constitution of the Fee Regulatory Authority under the Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutions Act, adopted by UT in 2018.
The tussle between Chandigarh administration and private schools over uploading of their accounts on their websites doesn’t seem to be ending. The administration recently told the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) that disclosure of income and expenditure will not be an invasion of the privacy of the schools or violate their rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
The administration, in response to plea filed by a private schools’ body challenging its order to upload the balance sheets, argued that the institutes were public entities as these had been built on government land and were bound to follow the administration’s directions.
The Independent Schools’ Association has also challenged constitution of the Fee Regulatory Authority under the Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutions Act, adopted by UT in 2018.
The administration had reasoned that the law was adopted with some amendments to ensure transparency and accountability, which was essential for fee regulation.
Schools were asked to upload balance sheets in consonance with provisions of the law and upon complaints of profiteering and some parents seeking fee waiver in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak.
Many schools did not upload balance sheets and did not respond to the show-cause notice served to them for failing to comply with the order, the administration said.
Demanding that petition be dismissed they asked the court to tell the schools to approach the competent authority in the administration with their grievance, if any.
MONEY MATTERS
Should uploading accounts on school websites be mandatory?
Should it be mandatory for private schools to upload their accounts on websites? Send your responses to Chandigarh@hindustantimes.com by June 26.
