Orissa HC rejects DAV schools'' fee hike proposals

A division bench of the Orissa High Court today rejected four petitions filed by the state's different DAV Schools challenging the decision of a single-judge bench which had ruled that there shall not be any fee hike by any private schools in the state arbitrarily.The Bench of Chief Justice V Gopala Gowda and Justice B N Mohapatra termed the petitions "devoid of any merit" and upheld the June 23, 2011 decision pronounced by Justice M M Das in the matter.Three DAV schools and regional director of the DAV schools in the state had filed the petitions.Justice Das had ruled that all private schools, including English medium ones, come under Orissa Education Act and they have abide by the provisions of Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009.Justice Das had also ruled that the DAV schools shall continue with its fee structure of 2008-09 academic sessions.On fee hike in future, the High Court had directed the state government to form a high-level committee under the Director of School and Mass education within four months to look into the fee structure of all private schools."The private schools wishing to make any changes in their fee structure shall apply to the Committee, which in turn shall dispose off the applications within 90 days after making proper assessment of facilities and infrastructure available in the school concerned," the HC said in its earlier order.