How parents fought for three years against Maxfort's fee increase

NEW DELHI: It takes some kind of nerve to relentlessly pursue the issue of fee increase in a private school. The parent associations of Maxfort School Rohini and Pitampura (Parwana Road), which Delhi government attempted to take over on Wednesday, started their fight in April, 2013. Over the next three years, they filed over 150 RTI queries, approached court twice, made “presentations” before three directors of education and joined as many inquiries.
Most private schools have parent-teacher associations (PTAs) and they generally work with the institutions.The Maxfort School Parents’ Association came together because of a scheduling quirk. Lawyer and Pitampura branch’s association president, Arvind Dixit says the schools handed out fee slips for the next quarter on the same day it declared results. Consequently, a large number of parents happened to be together on March 29, 2013 when they realized fees were being raised again.
“About a hundred parents came together immediately. Fees had been rising since 2006. We appealed to the school authorities with no effect,” says Dixit. They met at a Rani Bagh banquet hall on April 14, 2013 and the Maxfort School Parents’ Association for Pitampura was born with Dixit as chief. Rohini’s is a partner association. “We didn’t register,” explains Dixit, “This isn’t a union. It was created to solve a particular problem.” By his estimate, it has about 1,500 members now, most businessmen with a few lawyers thrown in.
In April, 2013, parents approached the deputy director, education, (North West B) and were directed to the Directorate of Education, headquarters in Civil Lines. The director told them “they’ll see.” The first High Court case was filed on May 31. Meanwhile, parents started catching rumours from locals and information and documents from school employees. “They helped us too but asked us not to tell anyone.”
By September, 2013, HC tranfered the case to the DoE, more specifically, the “Fee Anomaly Committee,” at the DDE’s office. Parents couldn’t find it. “There is no such committee. Later, DoE established a special one,” says Dixit. In November, the education director ordered a CAG audit of the school’s finances. Dixit claims the audit never happened; in April 2016, school authorities had told TOI they’d got a clean chit. In December 2013, DoE established a “high-level” committee which submitted its report — allegedly indicting the school — in January, 2014. “We got that, land allottment letters and later, district magistrate’s report through RTI. Nothing was shared with us,” says Dixit.
When fees increased again, parents went back to court. In March, 2015, the director, education was summoned. Despite hearings and DoE orders, there was little progress. On November 24, 2015, Dixit presented the issue directly before the education minister, Manish Sisodia. “I had written dozens of e-mails, sought time.” By then, the association had 600-700 members.
A DM’s inquiry was instituted and soon after, DoE’s Special Fee Anomaly Committee. The committee declared the hike “not arbitrary.” The decision confused the HC which, rebuking the department for flip-flopping, disposed off the case on March 4, 2016, but kept open scope for a new one. When parents met Kejriwal, the fight against fee-hikes was hotting up across schools. The HC’s decision in another case, gave government more say; the director changed. “In March, 2016 DoE ordered a refund. In April, 2016, a show cause notice was issued,” says Dixit, “It was received on April 11.”