The District Administration of Jabalpur district in Madhya Pradesh has penalised 10 private schools in Jabalpur and ordered them to refund nearly Rs 64.59 crore to parents of more than 81,000 students, which the schools had collected from them after hiking fees without permission from any authority.
According to officials, the district level committee set up under provisions of the Madhya Pradesh Niji Vidyalaya (fees tatha sambandith vishaya ka viniyam) Adhiniyam 2017, had examined the accounts of the 10 schools and found them charging extra fees.
Advertisement
Jabalpur District Education Officer (DEO) Ghanshyam Soni said that the officials found that the hike of tuition fees and its collections from the students from session 2018-19 to 2024-25 was done without taking any permission from the authorities.
Subsequently, the DEO directed the 10 private schools to refund Rs 64,58,76,812 charged extra as tuition fees from total 81,117 students from academic sessions 2018-19 to 2024-25.
On May 27, the Jabalpur district administration had got 11 FIRs registered against school functionaries and shop owners for allegedly illegally raising fees and textbook prices respectively.
According to Jabalpur Collector Deepak Saxena, the district administration took action against the school functionaries and textbook shop owners after finding various discrepancies against them.
Some schools hiked fees by more than 10 per cent without seeking permission from the district administration while some others increased fees by more than 15 per cent without taking the nod of the committee set up by the state government.
