Nearly 250 unaided private schools in Uttar Pradesh oppose govt's ban on fee hike, say no money to pay dues

Around 250 schools under the umbrella of the Unaided Private School Association (UPSA) has opposed the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to not allow a fee increment for the upcoming academic year.

The UPSA said that for the last two years, schools have held themselves back from increasing their fees. However, they said that an 8 to 10 per cent fee hike is now needed to cover up their losses and pay the salaries to their employees.

UPSA President Anil Agarwal said, "A number of students from private schools have left the school due to the financial crisis and/or have taken admission in government schools. Also, at the junior class level, parents are not admitting students but are preferring private coaching or new online learning platforms. Students are less and expenditures are more, hence, schools have to increase fees this year."

Agarwal added that this year's situation is not as challenging as it was at the time of the lockdown last year. "We have not increased teachers' salaries for the last two years and our maintenance charges are going up every year. We have given a fee waiver to a number of students who had lost their dear ones to COVID. The association requests the government to allow them to increase the fees this year," he said.

The association has sent a letter to Aradhana Shukla, the Additional Chief Secretary (Secondary Education), seeking permission to hike fees. Agarwal added that it is tough to keep teachers motivated without giving them salary hikes.