Delhi wants poor quota, schools want fees

The Delhi government has announced that under no circumstances will private schools be allowed to increase their fees after implementing the 25% admission quota for the economically weaker sections (EWS). As per the Right to Education Act (RTE), it is mandatory for schools built on public land allotted to them at throwaway prices by the government to provide "freeships" and reserve 25% of seats for the EWS. Some private schools have opposed the step, contending that providing 25% reservation for the EWS category this year is difficult.

The schools also said that if the quota had to be imposed, then private school fees should be increased.

Delhi Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely has said that 25% quota in private schools "will be implemented at any cost and action will be taken against any school which increases the fees without prior permission from the education authority".

On the other hand, Public School Association ­president R.C. Jain said that the 25% quota in private schools should not be applied at all. "Under the Act and the court decision, schools can increase their fees provided they give ­appropriate justification. However, the main ­problem is that there are no new schools being built for students who will not be given admission in these schools. Government is saying that it will ­reimburse the amount

but there are other ­maintenance expenses as well. We have sent 80,000 fax sheets from across the country to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to protest against this quota system in the private sector. Government had given land to only 250 schools and the remaining 1,700 schools were built on private land. It will be easier for the owners to shut down schools and sell the land at a profitable price in the future if the quota system is implemented forcefully," he said.

M.I. Hussain, the ­principal of Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, however, said that RTE was the wake-up call to address the inequality in the education system: "Fees should not be increased. There should be no segregation between children from the weaker sections and other students as every child has the right to basic education."

12 December 2010 — The Sunday Guardian.