HRD minister urges private schools to reconsider annual fee hike

Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal urged private schools not to go for an annual hike this year and consider the pandemic. He urged schools not to ask parents for the advance fees for three months and consider quarterly amounts for this session to be enough.

New Delhi: Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' urged private schools to reconsider their decisions on annual fee hike and collecting fee quarterly during the lockdown.

In social media posts, the HRD minister said he had been receiving complaints from various parts of the country that schools were not only hiking fees but also asking parents of students to submit the amount for three months in one go.

"I urge Private schools to reconsider decisions on annual fee hike, collecting fee quarterly during the lockdown. I hope state education departments will address the fee issue keeping in mind the concerns of parents and schools."

A few states have taken positive steps to address school fee-related issues during the lockdown, hope others will consider too," Nishank said in a series of tweets in Hindi.

Soon after the Pokhriyal inscribed the matter on his Twitter, the Delhi government has asked the schools and colleges not to surge the fee during the lockdown period.

It also directed the educational institutes to take only tuition fee and asked to exempt the development fee for at least a year.

Significantly, even in the higher education sector, the All India Council for Higher Education (AICTE) has told colleges under its purview not to pressure students into paying fees till the time the current lockdown continues.