Education obligation of state, private schools involved out of necessity: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday held that the primary responsibility for education of children rests with the state and the participation of unaided private schools was allowed out of necessity as the state could not perform its function properly.

It said that since schools perform government functions, regulatory oversight by the state is essential to ensure that they function within the parameters of the Delhi School Education Act (DSEA) and do not engage in commercialization or profit-making.

“The main responsibility of education rests with the state and it is their duty to ensure that every child has access to education. The involvement of private schools was allowed out of necessity as the state could not properly perform its function,” Justice Sanjeev Narula said in his judgement.

The Supreme Court said a joint effort between private unaided schools and regulatory authorities is needed to strike a balance between the right to charge and the need for regulatory oversight to ensure quality and availability of education.

“Private schools must ensure transparency and accountability in their financial transactions, and regulatory bodies must ensure transparency and accountability in their regulatory actions. They should ensure that the surplus collected is used for the improvement and development of the school and its students,” the statement said.

The Supreme Court’s verdict came while upholding a petition of the Mahavir Higher Model School challenging the January 25, 2019 order of the Directorate of Education rejecting the school fee hike.

Initially, the DoE had passed an order on July 20, 2018, directing the higher school not to increase the fees or charges for the academic year 2017-18 and to refund or adjust the increased fee collected from the students in future fees.

Delhi Government DoE was represented by Standing Advocate Santosh Kumar Tripathi and Advocate Arun Panwar.

The school, represented through advocate Kamal Gupta, appealed to the court against the order allowing it to approach the DoE for clarification, after which its representation decided to reject the proposed fee hike.

The high court upheld the plea that the high school was entitled to increase its fees in terms of its fee statement submitted to the DoE on March 28, 2018.

The Supreme Court said that since the higher education institution does not operate under the land rule, the scope of DoE’s control over any hike in its fees is limited to preventing commercialization of education, profiteering and capitation fees.

“The DoE has not provided any evidence that the high school has engaged in any of the above activities or violated the DSEA or the Delhi School Education Rules or other relevant rules and regulations prohibiting their fee hike. . In the absence of the above-mentioned requirement, the presence of excess and sufficient funds cannot be a reason to refuse the right to raise the school’s fees,” the report said.

Regarding the junior school, the court said that since it falls under the jurisdiction of the plot of land specified in the land transfer letter, it will increase its fees according to the law.

“However, since the fee notification dated March 28, 2018 and the earlier DoE order dated July 20, 2018 only apply to the senior class, the DM is not authorized to assess the financial position of the junior school and issue instructions to it. …”, it is said.

It said Mahaveer Junior Model School has the right to improve its fee structure as per the law and the outstanding arrears collected from parents will be paid to the senior school within four weeks.

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(This story was not edited by News18 staff and was published by a syndicated news outlet)