Private schools in UP given a free hand to hike fees, alleges Manish Sisodia

Delhi deputy chief minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia on Sunday slammed the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly giving a free hand to the private schools in the state to hike fees, and added that within 10 days of coming to power in Punjab, his party has prohibited such a move.

“It has been just a few days since the AAP came to power in Punjab and the BJP returned to govern Uttar Pradesh. Within 10 days of taking oath, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann ordered private schools will not be allowed to hike the fees. But, as soon as it came to power, the BJP government in UP allowed private schools to hike the fees as per their choice. This is an insensitive decision by the BJP government in times of people facing financial problems with several having their lost their jobs due to an unprecedented pandemic,” Sisodia said at a press conference with his party looking to expand its national footprint fresh out of a roaring victory in the Punjab assembly elections.

Education has been one of the main planks of the AAP for all elections it has contested so far, and the party has aggressively campaigned about the improvement of government schools in Delhi under the its dispensation.

Sisodia is likely to visit Gujarat on Monday to inspect the condition of the government schools of the BJP-ruled state.

“BJP has ruined the public-school education system in UP and now they are giving free hand to private school administrations to hike the fees. If this is the vision of BJP, then who will take care of the needs of the common man,” Sisodia said.

“In the past seven years, private schools in Delhi have been restricted from hiking the fees. Before the Kejriwal government came into power in 2015, private schools used to hike the fees 10-30% every year, but now they can’t do it any more due to restrictions imposed by the government. Before effecting any hike, the schools need to take permission from the government. Their accounts are audited by the government, and if they are found in need of funds then only they are allowed to hike the fees,” Sisodia said, adding that the same model is now being followed in Punjab.

The BJP, however, rejected Sisodia’s allegations, and said that Delhi cannot be compared with Uttar Pradesh. “There is no comparison between Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. The 2022 UP polls too were a reminder of that. AAP leaders should desist from engaging in such politics that uses schools as political tools,” said UP BJP spokesperson Harish Srivastava.