Editor Mr.Mayank Rawat ( Chief Editor Mr. Rohit Mishra )
New Delhi: AAP on Wednesday alleged that a meeting was held at Delhi education minister Ashish Sood‘s residence on April 6 where owners of the city’s top private schools were assured that govt would allow a 10% fee hike annually and no action would be taken against them.
Responding to the allegations, Sood said AAP leaders were now “unemployed” and holding “sensational” press conferences every day.
Atishi alleged that private schools had increased fees by 30-80%, forcing parents to stand outside school gates and protest. She claimed that AAP govt stood with the parents and protected their rights for 10 years and now, with BJP in office, private schools were raising fees. She added that a top office-bearer of an association of private unaided schools was a BJP functionary.
Atishi also wrote to chief minister Rekha Gupta demanding an immediate stop to the “proposed policy” allowing an annual 10% fee hike without mandatory audits. The former Delhi chief minister said govt must issue an order for schools to stop charging the increased fees and reimburse parents who have already paid. She also demanded an audit of the accounts of all private schools that wished to hike fees and an investigation into any alleged “influence” of the office-bearer of the schools’ association on the directorate of education.
The office of the education minister refuted Atishi’s allegations. “Some unemployed functionaries of AAP have no real work and, in order to remain in the headlines, they hold so-called sensational press conferences on one issue or the other every day. These AAP functionaries are making baseless and incoherent statements on various subjects,” it said.
Delhi BJP general secretary and West Delhi MP, Kamaljeet Sehrawat, questioned why Atishi was making such statements when Delhi govt had already issued orders against the fee hike. “The education minister has ordered an audit of the accounts of all private schools, yet AAP leaders are continuing to make statements on the matter,” she said.
Mayank Rawat
