17/04/2020
‘Private schools in Delhi to not hike fees during lockdown’: Manish Sisodia
The Delhi government on Friday prohibited all private schools in the city from revising their fee structure and charging transportation fees from the students amid the Covid-19 lockdown period. The government has also directed schools to charge fees only on a monthly basis and not quarterly.
Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia made the announcements saying that the government has received multiple complaints from parents about schools revising fee structure without taking prior approval from the government.
“All private schools in Delhi are operated by trusts and their basic mandate is to serve the society. They cannot harass parents like this. The government has decided not to allow any private school to hike fees without taking prior approval from the government. The rule is applicable for all schools irrespective of the fact if the school is built on government or private land,” he said.
Sisodia warned the schools of action under the Disaster Management Act presently enforced in the city in view of the coronavirus outbreak.
HT had on Wednesday reported that several private schools in the city have hiked fees amid the lockdown period without taking permission from the government. HT had also reported that the Directorate of Education (DoE) issued a notice to a private school in south Delhi against charging hiked fees and penalising students for not paying the fee.
The DoE on Friday issued a similar notice to all private schools directing them not to charge any other component from the parents except for the tuition fee. “No fee, except tuition fee, shall be charged from parents, till further orders. Heads of the Schools shall not demand and collect tuition fees from parents on a quarterly basis. The fee shall be collected on a monthly basis,” the order states.
The DoE further asked all schools not to revise the fee structure in the session 2020-21 till further orders. The schools are directed not to penalise students for not paying the fees. “The schools shall, in no case, deny access to online education to any student who is unable to pay fees due to financial crises arising out of ongoing lockdown,” it added.
All private schools are asked not to stop the salaries of their teaching and non-teaching staff members in the name of the unavailability of funds. “Arrange the funds in case of any shortfalls from the society or trust running the school,” the DoE order stated.
