UP Schools Beware: Yogi Government is threatening to fine schools for rising fees

UP Government, in a bold move, sanctioned a decree, Self-Financed Independent Schools (Regulation of Fees) Bill 2018, that refrained private institutions and schools, affiliated to prominent educational bodies: ICSE, CBSC and UP State Board, from rising fees. This decision comes in awake of pleas made by parents against capricious fee increments.

Obligations

• Under the new edict, schools which charge its students more than 20,000 rupees annually will be hawked by probes and investigations.

• The government, in the ordinance, listed conditions for schools while rising fees. Any fee increment scheme must be presented to regulatory committee, led by a divisional commissioner, before approval. School managements are obligated to rise fees up by only 8 per cent, after authorization.

• UP Government ruled out collection of admission fee every year and ordered one-time enrolment charges collection. Schools are bound to charge students with admission fee again only after a student is promoted from X division to subsequent higher class.

• Furthermore, Schools have likewise been instructed to show any fee changes on their respective websites 60 days prior to beginning of the academic session.

• Changes in school uniforms can only be changed every 5 years. This move is to curb schools from collecting unnecessary fees on attires.

Penalty

School administration (Director/Chairman) will be fined up to 1 Lakh rupees for first-time violation of the ordinance.

If the management proceeds anyway, a fine of 5 Lakh rupees will be imposed for second-time violation and could stand a risk of de-recognition for further violations.