Fee row: 3 schools fall in line

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 22

The three private schools in the city, which breached the fee hike cap of 8 per cent as prescribed in the Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutions Act, 2016, have revoked the increase.

Confirming the same, District Education Officer (DEO)Anujit Kaur said, “All three schools have written to her office that they will not increase the fee by more than 8 per cent. We will not take action against the schools as the new session is yet to begin.”

In information given by schools to the UT about year-to-year percentage of fee hike, it was found that Chandigarh Baptist School, Sector 45, Playway Model School, Sector 47, and Kulwant Rai Sarvhitkari Vidya Mandir, Sector 43, had revised the fee for the session 2019-2020 by more than 8 per cent.

While Chandigarh Baptist School increased fee by up to 19 per cent for classes IV to VIII, there was an increase of 12.9 per cent for pre-nursery, 12.01 per cent for UKG to Class V and 11.82 per cent for Classes IX and X. Playway Model School raised the fee by 8.2 per cent this session while Kulwant Rai Sarvhitkari Vidya Mandir fixed the fee with a hike of 8.3 per cent.

The schools had accepted in the letter sent to the DEO that they would revise the fee structure in accordance with the Act.

Another violation

The private schools not only violated the fee cap limit, but also did not upload the fee structure details on their websites, which was a violation of the Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutions Act, 2016. Chandigarh Baptist School only uploaded the fee structure of nursery.

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