Delhi Government finds 16 schools breaking rules

According to the report, Bal Bharti Public School, Delhi Public School (R K Puram), Rukmini Devi in Pitampura and Ryan International were transferring their profits — in some cases nearly a crore of rupees — to private societies.

Ryan International School students, the education department’s team found, have been given a receipt of the school for charges under the heads of tuition fee, registration fee, admission fee and caution money. But for donations, (usually a big amount) the parents have been given a receipt of the society that runs the school.

A student seeking admission into ASN Senior Secondary School in Mayur Vihar was given a proper receipt for the fee. But for the Rs 5,100 donation, his parents got a receipt of the Sanatan Dharam Adarsh Shiksha Sansthan.

Other schools like New Era Public School and Happy Model School, Janakpuri, were found to have opened a number of other unrecognised branches for nursery and primary classes. These smaller schools, mostly running from homes of the `principals’, charge admission fees ranging between Rs 5,000 to 30,000 per student. The `assurance’ given to parents who coughed up the money was that the students from these unauthorised schools would be tranferred en bloc to the `main’, better-known school at relatively low admission fees.

A public interest litigation (PIL) by Abhibhavak Mahasangha, a pressure-group of aggrieved parents, is being heard by the Delhi High Court. The case centres around school managements unilaterally hiking fees. New Era Public School had hiked their fee by 30 per cent. The Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram, increased its fee by 40 per cent. According to the education directorate, the school was already overcharging with Rs 2,000 as admission fee and Rs 3,500 as caution money.

The “most glaring examples” cited in the education department’s report are: ä Bal Bharti Public School: The school had created a surplus of over Rs 96 lakh from the school fund and the transport fund in the last five years. The surplus was transferred to the Children Education Society. This, the inspection report observed, is in contravention to rule 177 of DSER.

Rajindra Gupta, the secretary of the Children Education Society who also happens to be Delhi’s transport minister, told Express Newsline that while the money was indeed being transferred from the school to the society, it was “a service charge for the use of the school building provided by the society”. The money, he said, was being used to build new schools and provide facilities to students.

But the report stated that since so much money was being transferred to the society, there was no justification in hiking the tuition fee by 30 per cent. The report observed that the school could easily reduce the fees and funds being charged from the students so as to have only a “nominal surplus”.

Transfer of funds to the society further violated Rule 50 (iv) of the DSER, showing that the running of the school was a regular source of income for the society. “Societies are formed with a social objective without any profit motive,” the report observed. Moreover, it is the society which is supposed to maintain the school and not vice versa.

The report also stated that there was no logic in the school collecting Rs 2,000 as admission fee as more than Rs 1 lakh was being collected on account of sale of registration forms. “The admission fee should be reduced to Rs 200, if at all necessary,” it recommended.

The report further observed that “transport funds are meant for the students’ transport but the school has purchased and is maintaining a car — which is not meant for the students — out of the funds,” the report said.

Bal Bharti school failed to account for another Rs 60 lakh, part of the total caution money (nearly Rs 65 lakh) collected from the students. A nominal amount of Rs 1 lakh was shown in fixed deposit and another Rs 1.8 lakh in savings account. The report by the education department pointed out that school funds were placed in private leasing and finance companies instead of nationalised banks.

Delhi Public School (R K Puram): The inspection team observed that the registration charges being collected from the students were being converted as capital gains. The school was charging a non-refundable Rs 500 each from thousands of students who registered for admission for which there was no justification. The school, the report said, had garnered Rs 30 crore on this account alone. The report objected to the money collected by DPS, R K Puram, to be used to build and maintain schools outside Delhi. “It appears that the school is spending not only in maintaining the office of the DPS Society (a violation) but also to establish schools in other states at the cost of students studying here,” it said.

School principal Shyama Chona said that the education department wanted to cause willful damage to schools like hers “that are run well”. According to her, a school needed the right amount of money to provide quality education. The Rs 30 crore was used to make a new hostel and for paying salaries. She said the school was providing best quality computer education, which is expensive.

She denied that any money from R K Puram had been used to build schools outside. “The money is loaned and it will come back to us,” she said. Chona added that she was disgusted by the attitude of the education department which had politicised the issue. “They do not open good schools themselves. At least they should appreciate our efforts. I have wasted lakhs of rupees in this case (in the High Court) which could have been utilised to provide education to students,” Chona said.

“If we are so bad then why does education minister Harshvardhan send his children to my school (the junior branch at East of Kailash),” she questioned.

New Era Public School: The school has been found to be running five “unapproved” branches at three places in Rajouri Garden and one each in Naraina and Poochanpur. The inspection team also found no justification for the high monthly salaries being given to the principal (Rs 42,000 plus perks) and vice-principal (Rs 40,000 plus perks), the wife and daughter of the proprietor, respectively. Both the appointments were found to be against the norms keeping in view their qualifications.

On the other hand, the teaching staff was found to be underpaid and irregularities were also observed in disbursement of salaries and Provident Fund accounts. Usha Chopra, the school principal, when contacted, admitted the existence of five unapproved branches of the school. “They are not being run by the school management but by the New Era Education Society,” she tried to explain, but finally conceded that were not recognised by the education department. About the other issues, she said that “disproportionate weightage is being given to the wrong things by the education department”.

Ryan International School: This school was found to be diverting money to two societies — Mother India society and St Xavier Educational Trust. The building fund of Rs 64 lakh was transferred to the Mother India Society and the caution money and security money was collected from the students in the name of St Xavier Trust.

“This is a violation of rule 172 of the DSER because only the school can collect and issue receipts,” the report observed.

“The school is already charging heavy money in terms of caution money, development fund, annual charges and computer fee. The committee feels that there is no rationale to charge such exorbitant fee.” The school management said that St Xavier’s Education Trust was the parent body and the Mother India Education Society managed the school.

“The money has been loaned to the parent trust and will be returned with interest,” an official said.