Kanpur: Amid rising complaints over the increasing financial burden on parents due to school fees and the cost of books, notebooks, shoes, socks and uniforms, the district administration adopted a tough stance against self-financed schools.The administration made it clear that strict action would be taken against institutions violating provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Self-Financed Independent (Fee Determination) Ordinance-2018.The administration warned that, apart from refunding excess fees collected from parents, schools may face heavy penalties and even cancellation of recognition in cases of repeated violations.Chairing a review meeting of the Fee Regulatory Committee, district magistrate Jitendra Pratap Singh said that financial exploitation of parents would not be tolerated under any circumstances. He stressed that all fee-related provisions must be strictly followed and the fee determination process should be completely transparent. “No school will be allowed to charge even a single rupee more than the prescribed fee,” he said.He directed that all schools must submit details of the fees proposed for the upcoming academic session to the competent authority before the session begins. He also made it clear that forcing students or parents to purchase books, shoes, socks or uniforms from a particular shop would be treated as a serious violation, and any complaint in this regard should be acted upon immediately.Clarifying norms related to uniforms, the district magistrate said that once a uniform is finalised, it cannot be changed for at least 5 years. It was also decided that admission fees would be charged only at the time of first admission, while examination fees would be charged strictly for examinations.He further directed that issuing receipts for every fee collected would be mandatory, and no amount other than the prescribed fee should be charged by schools.Warning of stringent action, the district magistrate said that for a first violation, schools would be required to refund the excess amount collected and a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh would be imposed. For a second violation, the penalty could go up to Rs 5 lakh. In the case of a third violation, a recommendation would be made to the board concerned for cancellation of the school’s recognition or affiliation.The meeting was attended by principals of various schools, CBSE coordinator Balvinder Singh, ICSE Board coordinator Sharmila Nandi, Manoj Kumar representing the Parents’ Association, DIOS, chief development officer Deeksha Jain, and other officials.
