DoE to start inquiry against 2 schools for hiking fees

A senior official from the DoE said an inquiry would be initiated against two private schools in south Delhi after they hiked their fees following the HC order.

The Directorate of Education (DoE) will start an inquiry against two private schools built on private land, after the schools hiked their fees on the basis of a Delhi High Court order allowing unaided private schools to change their fee structure without prior sanction from the government.

HT File

A senior official from the DoE said an inquiry would be initiated against two private schools in south Delhi after they hiked their fees following the HC order.

Though schools functioning on private land are not obliged to take prior sanction from the department to hike their fees, the government can audit the school’s accounts and intervene if they receive a complaint on the matter.

Saurabh Bhardwaj, MLA, Greater Kailash, said an inquiry was initiated into the accounts of the two schools this week. “If schools on private land increase the fees, the government can audit their books and will see if there was a need to increase fees or if they have enough surplus money to pay teachers without increasing fees,” he said, adding that parents whose wards were admitted in both schools had approached him to intervene.

On March 15, the HC quashed a 2018 DoE order barring schools on public land from unilaterally hiking fees. Following the court order, several private schools built on government and private land had started asking parents to pay “arrears” in order to implement the seventh pay commission’s recommendations.