District inspector orders Ghaziabad schools to comply with fee regulations

Ghaziabad: The office of District Inspector of All Schools (DIOS) issued an order, through a letter, directed all private schools in Ghaziabad to strictly adhere to the UP Self-Financed Independent Schools (Fees Regulation) Act 2018. 

The order came on Saturday in view of upcoming academic session starting from April 1. 

In the order, it's clearly mentioned that the schools should strictly follow the provisions mentioned in section 2 and 3 of the Act that deal with "Admission to School" and "Fixation of Fee". 

"It is being ordered that schools must comply with the provisions mentioned in section two and subsection 9, 10 and 11 of section three of the Act," the order reads.

The section 2 and 3 of the Act make it mandatory for the schools to issue receipts for any kind of transaction taking place with the students. These sections underline that all kinds of fee and charges from the students should go directly into the bank accounts of the school and be maintained in the account books as well.

Besides, the schools are directed not to force students to purchase uniform, shoes and socks and study materials from a specific shop. The schools also can't change the pattens and colours of the uniform for five academic years. If the change is deemed necessary, it must be presented before the District Fee Regulatory Committee (DFRC) and implemented only after their (DFRC) approval. 

Shivani Jain, a member of the DFRC, who also runs All Schools Parents Association, a parents’ welfare organisation based in Ghaziabad, welcomed the DIOS order. However, she did not seem much hopeful with the change the order seems to promise. 

Jain said more than the circulation what is important is its implementation on the ground. "We have seen many orders in the past after introduction of the act. Unfortunately, all of them remained on paper as their compliance was ensured.”

Hence, she pointed out that directions and orders are important, but they are meaningless without their compliance. However, she conceded that the order was a big victory for the parents even though it is still on paper. 

Schools force the parents to purchase dress, shoes and study materials from specific shops to earn commission. Some schools even run commercial activities inside their premises which is prohibited by the law. 

“The school, which is revered as 'temples of education' in our culture,” she lamented, “have been turned into a shopping mall.” 

In a bid to stop arbitrary fee hike in private schools, Uttar Pradesh Government had come up with Bill through ordinance route in 2018--UP Self-Financed Independent Schools (Fees Regulation) Bill 2018--which later became the Act after its passage in the state assembly in 2019.