UP govt asks pvt schools to adjust 15% excess fees charged during Covid

The Uttar Pradesh government has asked all the private schools to comply with the high court order to adjust 15 per cent excess fees charged by them during the Covid period (2020-21).

The amount will be adjusted in the current academic session and the same should be returned to the students, if they have left the schools, the high court order had said.

Special secretary, UP government, Rupesh Kumar in an order said, "If any student/guardian/parent-teacher association is aggrieved by non-compliance of the above instructions, then they should submit a complaint to the District Fee Regulatory Committee under Section 8 of the Uttar Pradesh Self-Financed Independent Schools (Fee Regulation) Act, 2018. The committee will take appropriate decision on their complaint."

Kumar said the government order (dated April 27, 2020,) not to increase fees was applicable to all schools of all boards operating in the state.

But if the schools charged 15 per cent of the calculated amount of the excess fee in the academic session 2020-21, it should now be adjusted, said the order.

In addition to the above, any recognized school or any person aggrieved/aggrieved by the decision of the District Fee Regulatory Committee can submit an appeal before the Divisional Self-Financed Independent School Appellate Authority under Section-8 (11) of the Act.

Kumar said efforts should be made to ensure strict compliance of the above order.

The Allahabad High Court had, on January 6, 2023, directed all schools in Uttar Pradesh to provide a 15 per cent rebate on the total fees charged during the Covid period in 2020-21.

The court's order said all schools in the state will have to calculate 15 per cent of the total fees charged during the 2020-21 academic year and adjust it in the next session.

Anil Agarwal, president of the Unaided Private Schools Association, UP, however, said most of the member schools had already given huge concessions to students in Covid times.

--IANS

amita/dpb