Gurgaon: Audit report of schools submitted to divisional commissioner on Monday

The parents have been seeking action against the school over fee hike

The long-awaited audit report of various private schools in Gurgaon was on Monday submitted to divisional commissioner D Suresh, who is yet to go through the report.

Parents of students of Blue Bells group of schools hold a peaceful protest at the divisional commissioner’s office in Gurgaon on Monday. (HT PHOTO)

“The report has been submitted but I have not examined it yet. We will ensure that no injustice is done to anyone and relief will be provided to parents,” Suresh said.

Around 150 parents of Blue Bells Model School protested outside the divisional commissioner’s office on Monday morning, the last day to pay the fee.

Parents agitating against the fee hike met the divisional commissioner and requested him to take prompt action against the schools.

Although the parents have met him five times in last two months over the issue, no relief has come their way, a parent said.

Several city schools have allegedly violated the norms of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) affiliation bylaws and Haryana School Education Rules, 2003.

The Gurgaon divisional commissioner, who is also the chairman of the fee and fund regulatory committee (FFRC), had in March directed city schools to not demand an advance fee and only charge fee as per the heads mentioned in Form 6, but schools allegedly violated the order.

Form 6 is to be filed by a school with the education department within a stipulated time. It also contains details of the fee it charges. A majority of the city schools mention a monthly fee in their forms but, in reality, they charge a quarterly fee that include several additional charges.

The parents are waiting for the audit report for the last two months and they were promised that the audit finding will be shared with them last week but that did not happen.

Read I Fee hike: Divisional commissioner orders Gurgaon schools to follow norms

“The divisional commissioner has promised that he will be initiating relevant action based on audit findings within two to three days,” said Sameer Singh, a parent.

“We are hopeful that we will be provided some relief by the administration as the school has refused to help us and consider our demand. It is becoming very difficult for parents to pay the fee for two children in the same school,” said Meenakshi Gaur, another parent.

Suresh has assured parents that the date to remit the fee will be further extended till the audit report is not declared.

“We are hopeful that we will not have to pay the late fee as promised by officials. We have struggled a lot in the last few months and have suffered financial losses as we had to leave our work and run behind this issue,” said Rupesh Arora, a parent.

Parents from 40 private schools in the city have already held multiple protests over what they termed an “unjust fee hike”.

“We will talk to school (Blue Bells school) and the parent body before taking any decision. Monday was the last day to submit the fee and we have requested the school to extend the last day by another week so that we can come out with a resolution,” Suresh said.