School Fees: The Allahabad High Court has said in an order that all private schools in Uttar Pradesh will have to return 15 percent of the fees collected during the session 2020-21 to the parents during the Corona period. The court said that the fees of the students who are studying in the school should be adjusted in the fees of the next session and 15 percent of the fees collected from the students who have left the school should be refunded.
During the Corona period, many petitions and public interest litigations were filed regarding the waiver of the fees being collected by the schools. Hearing all these together, the division bench of Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice JJ Munir has given this order. Advocate Shashwat Anand, on behalf of the parents, said that no service was provided in private schools except online tuition in the year 2020-21. Thus charging even a single rupee more than the tuition fees by private schools is nothing but profiteering, commercialization of education. The petitioners also referred to the recent judgment of the Supreme Court in Indian School, Jodhpur vs. State of Rajasthan.
Private schools did not increase fees for two years
During the Corona period, on the orders of the state government, private schools did not increase the fees in the session 2020-21 and 2021-22. Managers say that according to UP rules, schools can increase fees by up to 10 per year. But the fee was not increased by one rupee for two years. Fees were waived off for all the parents who could not deposit the fees.
Admission in government schools was increased during the Corona period
Due to not being able to pay the hefty fees of private schools during the Corona period, many parents got their children’s names cut off and got them enrolled in government schools. The number of students in government schools in most of the districts including Prayagraj had increased during that period.
Petitioner said, parents won
Anuj Gupta, President of Moradabad Parents of All Schools, who petitioned the High Court for the refund of the fees charged by the schools during the Corona period, thanked the High Court. Secretary Ankit Aggarwal said that this is the victory of the unity of the parents.