DPS sends another fee reminder to parents: This time for wards not covered under HC order

The email sent to one of the parents Saturday stated: “Please note that subject to deposit of Rs 27,161 (without late fee), the name of your ward shall be restored in the rolls of the school and he shall be permitted to attend classes. It is made amply clear since the name of only one of your wards had been struck off from the school rolls on account of non-payment of fee, the order dated 09.07.2024 passed by the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi….shall be applicable only to the (name of the elder child in class IX)”

Notably, most of the petitioner parents have two children in the same school; the parents had earlier told The Indian Express that the discrimination was being experienced by their children studying in secondary school and not the younger children.

The mail further stated: “…kindly deposit the full fee…for you ward (younger child’s name in Class VII)…for the academic year 2024-25, failing which the school shall be constrained to strike off your ward’s name…You are once again requested to clear the outstanding fee by 15/07/2024.”

In another case, the school wrote to the parents to clear the dues of both the older and the younger child which stood at Rs 6431 and Rs 27640 (without late fee) respectively, by Monday.

Calls and messages to DPS Dwarka Principal Priya Narayanan and DPS Society Chairman B K Chaturvedi did not elicit any response.

Reacting to the latest mail by the school, a parent, on condition of anonymity, said, “Since the HC only ruled for our elder child, we were asked to pay around Rs 14,000 per month. In total, the school has stated that we had an outstanding of Rs 27,161 (for elder child ) without late fee. The court order is interpreted by the school at its convenience. The court has ordered to charge 50% of the hiked fee for 2024-25, DPS Dwarka has considered its 2023-24 fee as base fee, though the fee is rejected by DoE as per the 22.05.2024 order. Now that our younger child is not covered under the court’s order, the school is asking us to pay Rs 27,640 (for four months) failing which it will strike their name off the rolls.”

Another parent said, “I am a petitioner in a writ petition against the school for the year 2023-24 as well as 2024-25. As of date, I do not have even a single rupee outstanding against both my kids’ names. The school forced me to pay the full fees even for the previous year where I was covered by Delhi HC order…”

A single-judge bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, in its July 9 interim order, said, “…subject to the petitioners depositing 50% of the hiked school fee only for the academic year 2024-25, the names of the wards of the petitioners be restored on the rolls of the school in their respective classes, subject to the final outcome of the present writ petition.”

On Saturday, The Indian Express reported that DPS Dwarka had published on its official website the names of 21 students and the outstanding fees their parents have to pay. On Friday, The Indian Express reported that over 20 students of DPS were allegedly not being allowed inside their classrooms since school resumed after summer vacation on July 1.

The HC also issued notice to the Delhi government’s DoE, the school, and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in the main petition asking them to file their response in two weeks. The matter is next listed on July 30.