Manish Sisodia hits out at UP Govt for allowing private schools to hike fees

New Delhi: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia slammed the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday for allowing private schools to hike their fees and alleged that the saffron party wants to "keep the country uneducated". Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio in the Delhi government, said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should consider the condition of the parents.

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"The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was formed in Punjab on March 16 and within 10 days, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann issued an order saying private schools cannot increase their fees. "On the other hand, the BJP government was formed in Uttar Pradesh on March 25 and it passed an order saying private schools have complete freedom to increase the fees and loot the parents," he said during an online briefing.

Sisodia said many people have lost their livelihood during the COVID-19 pandemic and the fee hike will hurt them. "They cannot work on improving government schools. Where will the common man go? People have lost employment during Covid. You will not work on improving the condition of the government schools and you will allow the private schools to hike the fees. You want to keep the country illiterate. This is the BJP's governance model. Please think about the parents," he said.

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Sisodia also pointed out how the Delhi government has worked on keeping the fee hike by private schools in check. "Earlier, private schools could arbitrarily increase their fees in Delhi, but we stopped it in 2015. In the last seven years, we have stopped the private schools from increasing the fees and then we introduced a system where if they need to hike the fees, they will have to seek permission from the Delhi government. Their accounts are analysed by the government to figure out whether they actually need to increase the fees," he said.