Delhi: Schools flout norms, burden parents with ‘illegal’ charges

Delhi: Scores of recognised private unaided schools operating in the national capital are indulging in the money-making business by “illegally” charging hefty amounts from parents seeking nursery admissions for their children by creating “unique” and “illogical” heads.

In an order dated March 14, 2024, the Directorate of Education, Delhi Government (DoE), stated that as per the recommendations made by the Duggal Committee in 1999 and the Delhi High Court order dated February 11, 2009, the recognised private unaided schools can only collect the registration fee, admission fee, caution money, tuition fee, annual charges, earmarked levies, and development fee from students or parents.

The order also clarifies that charging fees such as ‘IT Fees’ or ‘Pupil Fund’ is considered a form of capitation fee. Furthermore, if a school imposes unwarranted charges under various heads or introduces new fee categories beyond the prescribed ones, and generates surplus funds from these, such actions are also deemed a collection of capitation fee in a different manner or form.

However, in another order of the DoE dated August 16, 2021, the education department outlined specific charges that private unaided schools are permitted to collect.

It specified that the Registration Fee should not exceed Rs 25, the Admission Fee is capped at Rs 200, and the Caution Money, which is refundable, is limited to Rs 500. These charges were defined to regulate fee structures and prevent exorbitant demands on parents.

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Patriot investigated the ground reality to check whether the schools are adhering to these guidelines issued by the education department. During the investigation, it was unearthed that scores of schools, including the most renowned educational institutions running in Delhi, are violating these norms.

School violating the norms

The recognised private unaided schools are “illegally” collecting hefty amounts from parents using new heads such as orientation charges, miscellaneous charges, health and hygiene charges, activity charges, and others.

Some of the schools found violating the norms include:

Maharaja Agrasen Model School, Pitampura, is charging Rs 5,000 from the parents as orientation charges.

St. John’s Public School, Khera Khurd, is charging a smart class fee of Rs 250 per month and a computer fee of Rs 130 per month.

Maharishi Dayanand Public School, Rajouri Garden, has not updated the fee structure for the current year, but their fee structure for 2023-24 states that the admission fee for the pre-primary is Rs 500, which is Rs 300 more than the limit set by the high court. Additionally, they are charging Rs 200 per month as activity charges and Rs 100 as computer fees, as per the school’s official website.

Jindal International School, Main Bawana Road, charges a

registration fee of Rs 500, other charges of Rs 2,800, and admission charges amounting to a whopping Rs 6,000.

G.D. Goenka Public School, with multiple branches across the city, charges Rs 450 for health and hygiene and Rs 850 for students using the school lab.

Bal Bharati Public School is also collecting the “illegal” amount from parents in the form of an activity fee (Rs 275), computer-aided learning fee (Rs 155), and health and hygiene fee (Rs 115) per month.

New Green Field School, Saket, is charging IT fees of Rs 550 per annum, despite the DoE strictly prohibiting such charges.

Vasant Valley School, situated in New Delhi, charges parents Rs 9,429 quarterly for meals (breakfast and lunch). Apart from this, the school collects Rs 3,100 annually in “other charges,” which include medical charges, group insurance, Founder’s Day, a calendar, and a class photo.

Meanwhile, Modern School, Vasant Kunj, and Delhi Public School, among the top schools in the city, have a fee structure in accordance with the Delhi HC’s directions.

Notably, all the fee structures of these recognised private unaided schools are available on their official websites.

Several schools in the city have been found violating the Directorate of Education’s (DoE) norms by awarding points for prohibited categories such as ‘meritorious child’ and ‘children with verbal and written communication skills.’ Despite a circular issued over eight years ago banning unfair criteria for nursery admissions, many schools continue to assign weightage to factors like ‘parents’ education’ and ‘meritorious child.’

The admission process for nursery, KG, and Class 1 in private unaided recognised schools for the 2025-26 academic year commenced on November 28, with registrations open until December 20.

This comes years after the Delhi High Court, in 2016, directed the DoE to abolish 62 admission criteria, including discriminatory categories like points for vegetarian or non-smoking parents. While the court later allowed schools to retain 12 criteria, such as the ‘management quota,’ it upheld the ban on the remaining parameters.

The DoE’s nursery admission notification for this year includes the list of prohibited criteria. Out of the total 1,741 registered schools in Delhi, only 1,585 schools have submitted the admission criteria, and 156 were yet to submit to the DoE as of 2:00 P.M. on December 9. Several were found violating the rules.

At Modern Perfect Public School in Sangam Vihar, 15 out of 100 points were allocated to the category of a ‘meritorious child.’ This is despite the DoE banning ‘scholar students’ as a criterion, arguing that no scholastic aptitude can be assessed at the entry level.

Similarly, a school in Badarpur’s Molar Band Extension assigned 10 points for ‘children with verbal and written communication skills,’ while another in Dwarka allocated 10 points based on the parents’ educational qualifications. The DoE had explicitly stated that using parents’ education as a criterion is unfair, as India’s literacy rate is not yet 100%, making it an unjust standard.

The banned list also includes criteria such as a ‘declaration regarding pick-up and drop-off,’ with the DoE noting that transport arrangements are a matter of parental choice. Some schools were found awarding points for students using the school transport facility, with extra points given to those living within the transport coverage area.

Additionally, several schools awarded points to children whose parents have non-transferable jobs, including Adarsh Vidyalaya and others. The DoE clarified that this criterion is relevant for admissions in higher classes to ensure the continuity of a child’s education but is inappropriate for entry-level admissions.

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Parents condemn schools

Speaking to Patriot, Aprajita Gautam, President of the Parents Association, Delhi, said, “Several schools did not even upload the fee structure on the official website with the sole purpose of hiding the fact that they are charging the capitation fees from the parents. The parents who are not much aware about the guidelines and norms are becoming fools and paying these money-making educational institutions a hefty amount.”

“The officials of the Directorate of Education have put a blindfold on their eyes or they are involved in this illegal racket running in Delhi. They are doing nothing to stop these institutions from looting naive parents who just want the best education facilities for their students,” Gautam said.

“The schools are looting the hard-earned money of the parents who work tirelessly to afford a quality education for their children, but the concerned authorities and the Delhi government do not seem to care about it,” the President of the Parents Association, Delhi, added.

When reached out for comment, the DoE declined to respond on the matter.

However, sources at the DoE said, “Stern action against the schools who are flouting the norms of the education department will be taken. We will launch an investigation into the matter and make sure that the schools charge parents fairly for the admission.”