Gurgaon: Committee to look into DPSG fee hike issue

The committee was formed in compliance with a directive issued by the Punjab and Haryana high court in December, 2017

The committee constituted to look into alleged arbitrary fee hike by Delhi Public School Ghaziabad (DPSG) in Palam Vihar, will examine all the important facts related to the issue and ask for answers from the school management.

The parents said that the DPSG management has struck off names of several students for non-payment of hiked fee. (HT FILE)

Dr. G Anupama, divisional commissioner, Faridabad, who was appointed as chairperson of the committee this year, met the parents at Gurgaon’s Mini Secretariat on Monday morning and heard their concerns related to the fee hike.

The committee was formed by the additional chief secretary (ACS) of education department, Haryana, following a directive issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in December, 2017.

Apart from her, other members of the committee include Vinay Pratap Singh, Gurgaon deputy commissioner, Gurgaon district education officer, a chartered accountant and an educationist from the district.

The parents also informed the committee members that due to the delay in paying the fees, the school management is treating their children unfairly. “We are really disheartened. It’s been almost two years that we are fighting for justice and our children are being humiliated in the school,” Dev Kumar one of the parents who attended the meeting, said.

The parents also alleged that the school has also struck off names of several students and have included their parents in the list of defaulters. They said that they have put up the list on the display board in their classrooms. “Our children are also not allowed to sit for examinations. This is wrong. The school, which should focus on ensuring a bright future for our children, are, instead, not allowing them to attend classes,” another parent said.

Read I Fee hike: Audit report of Gurgaon private schools expected next week

Anupama said that for private schools, it is necessary to fill up the Form-VI before paying the fees to the education department. She said that the school authorities should also mention the extent to which they will hike the fee in the next academic session. The management should also inform the parents of the hike in advance, she said.

She said that any unfair treatment to students by the school management would not be tolerated. On the allegation that the management isn’t allowing the students to sit for their annual examinations, she said that it is wrong to mete out such treatment to children right before their exams.

She also appealed to the parents to work towards resolving the dispute.

“For the sake of the children, it is essential that the school management and guardians are able to find a middle ground and resolve the dispute once and for all. The longer the dispute lingers, the more will be the damage wrought to the future of these children,” Anupama said.

District education officer, Prem Lata Yadav was directed to hold a meeting between the parents and the school management in a bid to settle the dispute.

Deepika Sharma, principal, DPSG, said, “We had a brief meeting with the divisional commissioner on Monday and she has sought for some more documents. We will soon have another meeting (with her) in this regard.”