Two private schools in Noida have agreed to withdraw their motion to increase the fees of children, and return back the excess money taken. The District Education Department said that the schools agreed to withdraw the motion after continuous agitation by the union of parents against ‘arbitrary fee increase’ on behalf of schools.
The Department asserted that the ‘arbitrary fee hike’ was not in accordance with the UP school fee regulatory Act.
District School Inspector (DIOS) PK Upadhyay said that the two schools namely Cambridge School in Sector 27 and Bal Bharti School in Sector 21 have agreed to return the hiked fees.
He added that Cambridge School Management agreed to refund the increased amount of ₹17000 per semester whereas Bal Bharti School has agreed to return ₹7000 per semester.
“We had served notices to the two schools regarding hiked fees in the past and they have now agreed to roll it back. Till now, we have got confirmation from two schools only. We are probing other schools which have also hiked fees,” Upadhyay said.
The continued agitation by the All Noida Schools Parents Association (ANSPA) against the ‘arbitrary fee increase’ lead to this decision taken by the schools, which was not in accordance with the UP Schools Fee Regulatory Act, which was enacted in August this year.
According to K Arunachalam, Secretary-General of ANSPA had sent a complaint to the DIOS in regard with six private schools namely Apeejay School, Somerville School, Amity International School, Delhi Public School, Noida, Cambridge School, and Bal Bharti School, for taking a move against the Act.
“Although we have received information regarding two schools agreeing to roll back hiked fees, they have not done it yet. If schools really intend to adjust the hiked amount with the future fees, they have to do it in the next quarter. It has been four months since the Act has been enforced, however, no private school has followed it yet,” Arunachalam said.
District Magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar met with all the principles of private schools in the district on November 3 and asked them to fix their fee structure in accordance with the new law and upload them on their website within a week.
After noticing the agitations by the Union, the District Fee Regulatory Committee, Upadhyay told that, in the next meeting, he will ensure that the schools follow the fee regulatory act and make the changes needed.
However, Asha Prabhakar, principal of Bal Bharti Public School, denied claims by DIOS.
“We had already returned the hiked fees to parents in July this year. The ordinance came in April and we were told to roll back hiked fees. There was a rise of ₹7,000 in the first quarter and we returned the amount in the second quarter fees. The claims of DIOS that Bal Bharti School has agreed to roll back fees now only is untrue,” Prabhakar said.
The Cambridge School was unavailable at the moment for further statements.