Parents welcome high court order on fee hike

GURGAON: Punjab and Haryana high court’s decision to restrain schools in Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana from hiking fees without obtaining prior permission from the education boards and councils they are affiliated to has been welcomed by parents in Gurgaon.Parents said that the high court’s decision comes as a relief at a time when they were being forced to pay exorbitant school fees which have been increasing almost every year. “All of us want our children to go to the best of schools but the problem is education is becoming costlier by the day. Fees in schools, especially private ones, are being hiked every year and this has become a huge problem for parents. We appreciate the high court’s efforts,” said Sunayna Singh, a resident of Sushant Lok and a mother of a 15-year-old.A father of a 10-year-old, Suhel Kumar, expressed similar views. “My child’s school fee has almost doubled in the past two years. It is really becoming difficult for parents to send their children to good schools and bear the cost of their education. So, the high court’s decision comes as a huge relief.” The schools, meanwhile, did not seem to share the enthusiasm of the parents. Col Pratap Singh, president of the Haryana Progressive Schools’ Conference (HPSC), said, “The government fails to look after the welfare of their schools and keeps interfering with the functioning of the private schools. That is not fair. It is not for the government to decide the fees of private schools. It is the discretion of the schools and the parents.” But when TOI contacted the administrative head of Shikshantar School, Seema Singh, and the principal of Scottish International High School, Sudha Goel, both of them said that they would ultimately abide by the government and court’s orders.Meanwhile, the district education department is yet to take action on the high court’s directive. Manoj Kaushik, deputy education officer, said that they would take action after receiving the directions from the education directorate.Many social activists have also welcomed the order. Satyaveer Singh, an advocate and president of an NGO, met the district education officer and the district elementary education officer, and requested them to take action against the schools which have already hiked their fees before the court had issued the order. “The schools are required to file a particular form to justify the hike, but this has not been done in years. This means that the hike in the fees of private schools is totally unauthorized. The department has the right to suspend, take over or withdraw the affiliation of the school, in the event of contempt of court,” said Satyaveer.