Private schools in Delhi decide to roll back arbitrary fee hikes; Major relief to parents

Around 128 private schools in Delhi, including some big names, have decided to roll back their ‘arbitrary’ fee hikes, an official at the chief minister’s office said on Thursday.

Also Read | PM Modi, Shah hand urns with Vajpayee's ashes to party chiefs

The decision was taken as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal issued directions to the school authorities to roll back their ‘arbitrary’ fee hike after receiving complaints.

The parents were satisfied as the government kept its promise of monitoring the private school fees under check and this action will enable the parents to breathe relaxation, according to the official.

In April, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal directed the education department to issue notices to 195 private schools across the city and demanded that the authorities roll back their fee hike. In July, Kejriwal again asked the Directorate of education to submit a compliance report on whether the private schools had rolled back the fee hike as ordered by the government.

“Out of 195 private schools, 128 have informed the directorate of education that they are rolling back their hiked fees. The move will benefit 2.03 lakh students studying at these 128 schools. Remaining 67 private schools will soon be served show-cause notices for not complying with the orders,” a government spokesperson said.

Also Read | Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s ashes to be immersed in West Bengal's Gangasagar tomorrow

He said that the co-existence of private and government schools will only benefit the city, but the arbitrary fee hike had caused a grim concern.

In April, after the fee hike was issued, the CM’s office was flooded with complaints regarding the issue. This demanded serious attention and hence directions were issued by the government to schools to roll back the fee hike.

“Checking the arbitrary hike in school fees is one of the main promises of this government. It has been successful in not letting the schools increase their fees arbitrarily and in the past several schools had to return increased fees to the parents after government’s intervention,” the government official said.

The official informed that the education minister Manish Sisodia would meet the representative of all the 128 schools who had agreed to the government’s orders and discuss how to take the education system forward in Delhi.

Also Read | Amarnath Yatra 2018: Yatra suspended from Jammu base camp due to inclement weather