Delhi govt decides to take over management of Apeejay School branch

New Delhi, July 28 The Delhi government said on Wednesday that it has decided to take over the management control of the Apeejay School branch in Sheikh Sarai for not complying with the directions issued by the Directorate of Education (DoE) over fee hike.

The DoE under the Delhi government said that it has decided to issue a show-cause notice for taking over the management control of Apeejay School, Sheikh Sarai, after the school repeatedly failed to comply with multiple orders of the Delhi government asking it to roll-back its unjustified fee hike.

The DoE's decision came after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal approved its proposal to take over the management control of the school. The proposal was sent to Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal seeking his approval, Delhi government said in a statement on Wednesday.

The DoE had conducted an inspection of the financial statement of the school for the financial years 2012-2013 to 2018-2019, Delhi government said.

"After a detailed inspection of the records, the department found that the total funds for the year 2018-2019 amounted to Rs 49,72,45,586, of which the expenditure was estimated to be Rs 18,87,02,422, implying that there was a net surplus of Rs 30,85,43,164," the statement said.

It added, "The DoE concluded that the school had no actual need to increase the fees of the school. In the same regard, the directorate refused to accept the proposed fee structure of the school for the academic sessions 2018-2019 and 2019-2020."

The DoE had then issued notices to the school management, asking them as to why the recognition of the school should not be cancelled or why the government should not take over the management control of the school.

The directorate had issued several notices to the school, asking it to stop charging the increased fee and submit a reply, which the school did not.

The school had also approached the Delhi High Court against the DoE order.

"Delhi HC had endorsed the DoE's order asking the school to rollback the increased fees. Considering the situation, the government has decided to take over the management control of Apeejay School, Sheikh Sarai," it said.

It may be recalled that on June 27, the Delhi government had taken over the management control of the Swami Sivanand Memorial School in Punjabi Bagh, citing violation of rules.