Responses flood fee regulation Bill

Updated on: Wednesday, March 23, 2011

A month after the landmark Bill to regulate fees in private educational institutions was put up on the school education department’s website, the government received 560 objections and suggestions to streamline fee structures of aided and unaided schools.

“The response was overwhelming. Not only students and managements, but social workers, a retired Supreme Court judge and leading academicians have all given their suggestions. A committee has scrutinised the suggestions and changes will be inculcated in the Bill after they are approved by the law and judiciary department. School education minister Rajendra Darda is committed to introducing the Bill in this budget session,” a senior official told TOI.

Most teachers and parents suggested that Maharashtra should adopt provisions identical to Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, imposing a ceiling on fees. In Tamil Nadu, the maximum fee for pre-primary is fixed at Rs 6, 000, Rs 7, 000 for primary, Rs 9, 000 for secondary and Rs 11, 000 for higher secondary. Managements of 10, 700 private schools in that state challenged the fee structure before the high court and later before the apex court, but lost. In Andhra Pradesh, Rs 24, 000 is the maximum fee that can be charged. It was also challenged, but the school managements lost.

The Maharashtra government-appointed committee said under the proposed legislation that the fee structure will be decided by the parent-teacher association. “Our provision is more democratic, whereas in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu there is no provision of letting PTAs take policy decisions on fee structures. We feel since the powers are given to the PTA, no private management will charge exorbitant fees. In any case, if there are grievances, students can turn to the committee headed by a retired high court judge. The committee has been asked to dispose of the complaint in three months,” he said.

Most suggestions were that the government should not empower private schools to hike fees, but it could not be accepted in view of the observations of the apex court in the T M Pai Foundation case. “The apex court had made it clear that we can’t prohibit private schools from enhancing fees. However, the proposed legislation allows us to review the hike,” he said.

The department clarified that an aided school is one that receives aid, monetary or non-monetary, from the state government, public sector undertaking or semi-government organisation.

Responses flood fee regulation Bill

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