As many as 128 private schools in Delhi, against whom there were complaints of arbitrary fee hike, have rolled back their fees, said the Delhi government on August 23. A show-cause notice will be sent to the 67 other schools who have refused to comply with the government’s directive to revise their fee, reported the Times Of India.

The daily also reported that Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia will hold a meeting with representatives of 128 schools in order to brainstorm ideas related to the education sector.

Private schools in Delhi to roll back fee hike

The decision, reportedly came after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal directed schools to reduce their fees after receiving complaints. In April 2018, the education department of Delhi had sent notices to 195 private schools. In July, again, Kejriwal had sought a report from the Directorate of Education to check if the schools have complied with the directions or not.

A government spokesperson told the Hindustan Times, “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.”

Parents had reportedly complained about the arbitrary fee hike and it was then that the government decided to issue the order of “arbitrary” fee rollback. “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,” a government official told Hindustan Times. However, several schools have reportedly said that school fees are hiked after keeping in mind the rising costs of electricity and water.

Crackdown on fee hikes

However, this is not the first time the Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi has come down heavily on private schools. In May, the Delhi government had asked 575 private schools to refund the excess fees that they had charged. Moreover, the excess fee charged between June 2016 to January 2018 was to be returned with 9% interest.

In 2017 as well, Delhi government had served a show-cause notice to 449 private schools and given them two weeks to refund the excess fees charged by them. More than 150 private schools in Delhi had started the process of refunding excess fees, including around 70 schools that had submitted excess fees to the state high court. The Logical Indian extends its support to the Delhi government for taking such a step in curbing unfair hike in fees by the private schools. Education is one of those services which should be accessible to one and all. Charging an inexplicably high fee in private schools amounts to exploitation.

Also Read: ‘Refund Excess Fees Or Get Affiliation Cancelled,’ Jalandhar Commissioner Warns Pvt Schools