look news india
Authorities in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district have ordered 10 private schools to refund Rs 65 crore in fees illegally collected from students. The schools collected this amount as fees from 81,000 students during seven academic sessions.
Jabalpur District Education Officer Ghanshyam Soni said that the schools have increased the tuition fees in violation of the law. When the members of the committee formed for investigation at the district level checked the accounts of these schools, they found that these schools were charging extra fees. During the year 2018-19 to 2024-25, these private schools collected a total extra amount of Rs 81,117 crore from 81,117 students. The officer said that he has issued a notice to the schools on Tuesday asking them to return the fees collected illegally. On May 27, the Jabalpur district administration received 10 FIRs registered against school administrators and some book shops for illegal fee hike and increase in the price of textbooks.
District Magistrate Deepak Saxena said that after receiving the copy of the FIR, action has been taken against the operators of private schools by investigating the school accounts. According to the rules, if private schools have to increase the fees by more than 10 percent, they will have to take permission from the district administration. For increasing the fees by more than 15 percent, the schools will have to take approval from the committee constituted by the state government. Out of 10 schools, some increased the fees by 10 percent and some by more than 15 percent without the approval of the authority.
