September 19, 2011

HC sets up panel to look into school fee hike

NEW DELHI: Schools in the capital will now be subjected to greater financial scrutiny. Delhi high court on Friday set up a three-member panel headed by a former judge to examine the legal validity of fee hike by
private schools from 2006 onwards.

A division Bench comprising Justice AK Sikri and Justice Siddharth Mridul said till the committee decides on the validity of the fee hike, the government's notification permitting unaided private schools to hike their tuition fees will be valid.

The committee, headed by former judge Anil Dev Singh, will audit the accounts of each school to ascertain if the hike was required. It will scrutinise the accounts of minority schools as well. "If the committee finds that the hike was not required, schools are bound to return the money to students with 9 per cent interest rate," the Bench said. The panel will also comprise J S Kochar, a chartered accountant, and an official from the directorate of education, to be nominated by the Delhi government's chief secretary.

The Bench made it clear that the city government's 2009 notification will be treated as an interim measure but it would be subject to the scrutiny. "The guiding principle is "to strike a balance between autonomy of such institutions and measures to be taken to avoid commercialisation of education." The autonomy can be ensured by giving first right to such schools to increase the fee. At the same time, the quantum of fee to be charged by unaided schools is subject to regulation by the DoE," the Bench observed.

HC rejected demands by the petitioner for a greater say of the parents association in the financial management of the school by the management and suggested the state government create a permanent regulatory authority, either by amending the Education Act or by enacting a new legislation, to resolve the issue of periodic hike in tuition fee. It also suggested the Central government to frame a `National Policy On Fees' for unaided schools.

The Bench's order came on a PIL which had alleged that despite CAG's indictment of 25 private schools for accounting malpractices including faking losses, the government has allowed them to hike tuition fee.

HC was hearing a PIL filed by Delhi Abhibhavak Mahasangh through its counsel Ashok Aggarwal, challenging the government's decision to allow schools to hike tuition and development fees.

The government notification, which was issued on February 12, 2009, had said that any school, which was charging a monthly fee of Rs 500, will be allowed to hike Rs 100. Likewise, any school charging a monthly fee of Rs 1,000 will be allowed to effect a maximum hike of Rs 200. Schools with a monthly fee of Rs 1,500 were allowed to hike tuition fees by Rs 300 and those having a fee structure ranging from above Rs 1,500 to Rs 2000 were allowed to hike it by a sum not more than Rs 400. The rest of the schools - with monthly fees of more than Rs 2,000 - were allowed to hike it by Rs 500. The Delhi Cabinet had approved the hike ranging from a minimum of Rs 100 to a maximum of Rs 500 in the schools to ease their financial burden due to hike in teachers salaries as per Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.

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