Manish Sisodia says Delhi Govt allowed fee hike in limited schools, Parents’ association calls it a 'lie'

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has given permission only to ‘limited’ private schools to increase school fees, Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia said during a press conference today. He also said that the government will issue Covid-19 guidelines tomorrow to schools as Covid-19 cases rise in the national capital.

Also read | Delhi Govt to issue Covid-19 guidelines for schools tomorrow, says Manish Sisodia

When asked about the Delhi Parents Association’s protest against an "arbitrary fee hike", Manish Sisodia said, “Since 2015, the Delhi government has not allowed schools to hike fees and this continued till 2020 even though the government received requests from several schools.”

“However, in the wake of Covid-19, the government permitted ‘limited’ schools to increase fees by 2-3% after the examination of their financial records and bank account,” he said.

He further said that action will be taken by the government if it receives complaints from parents against a school if they are increasing fees on their own.

Also read | Fortnight after being heckled, ex-Aliah University VC says 'happy' to rejoin Jadavpur University

On April 11, The Delhi Parents Association alleged that two top private schools in the national capital have arbitrarily increased the fees. DPA president Aparajita Gautam alleged that the recent statements by Delhi's education minister in which he falsely claimed that private schools in Delhi have not increased fees in the last many years are all a "lie".

Addressing an Important Press Conference | LIVE https://t.co/SxWSAg0Kiq

— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) April 14, 2022

“The affected parents running from pillar to post to raise their concerns about the fee hike have not been heard by the education minister or the DOE (Directorate of Education)," he said, as per a PTI report.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) recently said that only 203 out of 1,027 government schools in the national capital have a headmaster or principal. It also sought an explanation from the Delhi government for the high vacancy in the important posts. When asked about the same, the education minister did not respond, as per the press conference shared on his Twitter handle.