Parents had complained that the school was charging fees contrary to that declared by it in Form 6 filed with the education department.
D Suresh, divisional commissioner, Gurgaon, has formed a team to conduct an audit of Shiv Nadar School and has asked the district education officer (DEO) to submit the report within 15 days.
Under Rule 158A of Haryana School Education (Amendment) Rules, 2014, an order was passed on May 12 that an inquiry be conducted by the additional deputy commissioner (ADC) along with the DEO regarding the issue of fee hike and an audit of the school be carried out by the auditor, already engaged on behalf of the Fees and Fund Regulatory Committee, under the supervision of the ADC.
FFRC is a committee formed by the state government empowered to conduct an independent audit of the complete financials of private or un-aided schools against which a complaint is filed.
Parents of children studying in Shiv Nadar School had complained about fee hike being contrary to what was declared by the school in Form 6 filed with the education department and had requested for issuing appropriate directions to the school management to refund the fees and charge fee as per Form 6.
In order to resolve these issues, the FFRC had met on April 11 and May 5 with the parents and school management.
The divisional commissioner found that the school was charging fee contrary to what it had notified and the school submitted Form 6 beyond the prescribed time limit as shown by parents. There were two different dates of submission of the forms: December 13, 2015 and March 11, 2016. Suresh said, “The committee will do the audit and submit the reports within 15 days.”
On the other hand, the school authorities have refuted the allegations. A school official, on condition of anonymity, said, “The Shiv Nadar School fee is in accordance with Form 6 and the revenue mentioned in the form covers income under all fee heads. Form 6, as it was submitted, has been displayed at the school’s notice board for the last one month. Ninety-five percent of parents have paid the revised fee and fully support the fee structure, given the high quality of education the school provides.”
Meanwhile, the parents said the school can't get away under the garb of Form 6 and the values entered therein. “The FFRC needs to investigate why the school needs to hike the fee and ensure that the school is not siphoning off funds in the name of rentals to a trust that belongs to the society running the school. We want thorough, unbiased, and independent auditing of complete financials of the school, details of which should be kept in public domain,” said Jitesh Sahgal, a parent.
