Two branches of Apeejay School sealed for hiking fees illegally

On Monday, the DoE in its order said that it’s received a recommendation from the ADM (south) office for sealing the buildings of these two schools and lodging an FIR against the management of both the schools.

The Delhi government on Monday 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 its education department.

Denying all charges against them, the principals of both the branches of Apeejay School have issued a statement saying, “ We have all requisite approvals from the DoE.” (Sudipta Banerjee/HT File Photo)

The Directorate of Education (DoE), on April 18, had issued an order directing all private schools in Delhi not to revise their fee structure without seeking prior approval. The schools were also asked to charge only tuition fee from the students amid the lockdown. The DoE had warned the schools of action under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, enforced in the city amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In an order issued on Monday, deputy director education (south) Arvind Kumar said, “It’s been reported that the management of Apeejay School (Saket) and Apeejay School (Sheikh Sarai) are not complying with the directions issued by the education department and they are directions by the way of unauthorised fee hike [sic].”

Hindustan Times had, last month, reported that the DoE had issued an order against Apeejay Schools, Saket and Sheikh Sarai, for illegally increasing the fee without taking cognisance of the prevailing situation. The parents’ association in the school had alleged that they hiked the fee by 15-20% in April this year.

Following this, the buildings were sealed by the DoE officials on Monday evening. However, no FIR was lodged by the time this report was filed.

Saurabh Bhardwaj, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Greater Kailash, also tweeted about the sealing of the two branches of the school. “Two APEEJAY School branches at Sheikh Sarai & Saket were sealed today by Govt of Delhi. Much appreciated action of Sealing by DM, South and Dept of Education...APEEJAY school had been violating all kinds of norms of Healthy Education system. Inspite of audits showing crores of surplus money in accounts, it was illegally arm twisting parents for increased fee [sic],” he tweeted.

Denying all charges against them, the principals of both the branches have issued a statement saying, “ We have all requisite approvals from the DoE to charge the fee for the academic year 2019-20. We have certainly not forced or harassed our parents to pay the fee. In fact, we held out a helping hand to those in need, with scholarships. Almost 100% of parents of Apeejay School, Panchsheel Park, have paid the academic year 2019-20 fee, voluntarily and a majority have also paid the present monthly tuition fee.”

“Almost all the parents are with us and understand the situation. Only a handful of parents have been complaining, motivated by vested interests. Unfortunately, the current force majeure situation has again prompted them to agitate on the fee issue,” they added.