The ongoing tug of war between harried parents and public schools in the city has resulted in the strong intervention by the District Magistrate (DM) SVS Ranga Rao. The DM has passed an executive order and has restrained the managements of various schools to desist from hiking the fee. The DM has also regulated the fee structure for three years along with the provision of proportionate quota to classified students provided in land allotment conditions.
“The tuition fee cannot be revised before three years and the revision cannot be more than 10 per cent in one go. And the overall income of the school from the tuition fee and Dearness Allowance (DA), after the deduction of the staff salary, should not be more than 20 per cent. The schools should follow these conditions laid down by the Government, education boards and Supreme Court of India but no school is following those,” DM SVS Ranga Rao said.
He noted that the school managements are not following guidelines issued by Supreme Court of India and land allotment conditions and that the schools are arbitrarily increasing the tuition fee. “If any increased fee has been realised from the students that would, either, be adjusted in the next instalment along with the interest or would be refunded within a week of the order,” he said, adding the school management would not force the students to buy the stationery from the school. If any violation in this regard is found, an FIR would be lodged against the school and a separate report would be forwarded to the UP administration for non-compliance of the conditions issued by the State in issuance of NOC. In the land allotment conditions laid down by the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA), Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation, and Avas Vikas Parishad, 5 per cent reservation to children of staff and 10 per cent to economically deprived children was provided, but the schools have not followed those.
The main violators were the three branches of DPS Ghaziabad (Vasundhara, Meerut Road and Dasna), Bal Bharti Brij Vihar and Bansthali Vasundhara. The DPSG enhanced fees up to 40 per cent from Rs 21,000 in 2004 to Rs 71,000 in 2013 and Rs 99,000 in 2014.