The Delhi government has directed 575 private schools in the city to refund the excess fee they had charged from students with nine percent interest.
The schools have been granted a week’s time to comply with the order which also includes disbursal of salaries to teachers as per rules, failing which strict actions will be taken against them, PTI reported.
“The schools are directed to refund the fees within [seven] days and ensure disbursal of pending payment of salaries if any,” said the order issued by the Directorate of Education.
The action could also include taking over of the institute by the education department as per the government rules, Hindustan Times reported quoting an education department official.
The order came after a committee constituted by the Delhi High Court examined the records and accounts of 1,169 Unaided Recognised Private Schools in order to implement the recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission.
On May 10, the AAP government directed two private schools to roll back fee hikes and sent a de-recognition notice to another private school over violation of rules after parents approached Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The Delhi High Court constituted Justice Anil Dave Singh committee in 2009 after some parents approached the court through a city based NGO. The committee was tasked to determine the need of fee hike and to examine the records and accounts of unaided private recognised schools with respect to implementation of the 6th Pay Commission’s recommendations.
