Fee hike: Delhi govt issues notice to pvt school, says it will take over

In May last year, the Delhi government sealed the two branches of Apeejay School in Saket and Sheikh Sarai for charging hiked fees from students in violation of the directions issued by the education department.

The Delhi government on Wednesday said it will issue a show-cause notice to Apeejay School in Sheikh Sarai for repeatedly failing to comply with the education department’s order on rolling back the fee hike introduced by them in the last two academic years, and said it will also take steps to take over the school management.

According to education department officials, the DoE inspected the financial statements of the Apeejay School, Sheikh Sarai, from 2012-13 to 2018-19.

“Directorate of Education (DoE) decided to issue a show-cause notice for taking over the management of Apeejay School, Sheikh Sarai, after the school repeatedly failed to comply with multiple orders of the Delhi government asking it to roll back its unjustified fee hike. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal approved the proposal of the Directorate of Education to take over the management of the school. The decision [was] sent to the LG (Lieutenant Governor),” said a statement released by education minister Manish Sisodia’ s office.

In its response to the notice, the school described the allegations as prejudicial and incorrect.

In a similar instance, the Delhi government announced on July 27 that it will take over the management of Swami Sivananda Memorial School in Punjabi Bagh after it received complaints of charging arbitrary extra fee.

According to education department officials, the DoE inspected the financial statements of the Apeejay School, Sheikh Sarai, from 2012-13 to 2018-19. “After a detailed inspection, the department found that the total funds for the year 2018-19 amounted to ₹49,72,45,586, of which the expenditure was estimated to be ₹18,87,02,422, implying that there was a net surplus of ₹30,85,43,164, upon which the department concluded that the school had no actual need to increase the fees of the school. In the same regard, the directorate refused to accept the proposed fee structure of the school for the academic session 2018-19 and 2019-20,” the statement said.

In May last year, the Delhi government sealed the two branches of Apeejay School in Saket and Sheikh Sarai for charging hiked fees from students in violation of the directions issued by the education department.

The school approached the high court against the directorate’s order but the court endorsed the DoE stand asking the school to roll back the increased fees, officials said.

The school said classes will continue. “All our actions and fees charged are as per the orders of the Delhi high court, and we are shocked at the prejudicial and incorrect statements made by the Delhi government while the matter is subjudice and especially during Covid-19. Our parents and students will remain unaffected, and we will continue our excellent virtual education in partnership with them,” the school spokesperson said in response to the government’s notice.