Panel for lowering school fees

The State Consumer Commission has directed Delhi government to set up a committee for lowering the admission and tuition fees.

In an order which could enable children of poor families to get admission in private schools, the State Consumer Commission has directed the city government to set up a committee for lowering the exorbitant admission and tuition fees charged by them.

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Pulling up authorities for “utmost apathy” in not controlling the cost people have to pay for educating their children, Commission bench headed by Justice J D Kapoor asked the director of education, Delhi Government, to constitute an expert committee which, in a month’s time, will fix the maximum admission fees that private schools can charge.

Terming education as “a pious cause”, Kapoor said, “the noble cause of imparting education to our future generation has been converted into trade and commerce and it has created the big rift between the rich, middle and poor classes…”

The bench last week restrained all Delhi schools from charging various other fees such as development and building maintenance except reasonable admission and tuition fees.

Barring schools from collecting more than three months tuition fees in one go, Kapoor said schools claiming to offer central air-conditioning in classrooms should not be allowed to fix an astronomically high amount as admission fee.