Its objective is to make fee determination in private schools in the capital transparent and accountable. The government has termed this bill as “historic”.

The bill will apply to Delhi ‘s 1,677 private unaided schools, including those built on private land or run by minority institutions. Till now, these schools did not face much monitoring in fee fixation. A key aspect of this law is a three-tier regulation system that will control the increase in school fees.

What is a three-tier system?

School-level fee regulation committee : This committee will be formed in every school, which will include school management, teachers. This committee will be able to approve fee hike up to a maximum of 15% annually based on criteria such as salary, infrastructure and local demographics.

District Fee Appeal Committee : If there is a dispute over any increase, parents can appeal to this committee headed by the local Deputy Director of Education. This committee will review the cases brought by parents.

State Level Review Committee : This committee will be headed by an independent educationist and its decisions will be binding for three years. Schools will have to inform about the proposed fee hike by 31 July every year and the final decision will be taken by mid-September.

strict action on violation

This bill has a provision of fine ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh on the violating schools. If the schools fail to return the excess fee, then this fine will be doubled. In case of repeated violation of rules, the recognition of the school can be cancelled or the government can take over the management of the school.

Criticisms are also not less

Although the government is quite positive about the bill, many criticisms have also come to the fore. In fact, many people consider the requirement of consent of at least 15% of the parents to file a complaint as an obstacle, which will make it difficult to file individual complaints. Concerns have also been raised about giving “legal recognition” to fee hike up to 15 percent.

The bill does not mandate independent financial audits, raising questions about the effectiveness of monitoring. Moreover, the proposal to implement the bill with effect from 1 April 2025 could pave the way for schools to legitimise previously controversial fee hikes.

Defending the government

Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood has described the bill as “the most democratic fee regulation law ever”. He said that this law gives parents direct participation in the decision-making process and provides a clear and structured system to prevent arbitrary fee hike.

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Along with this, the right of the state government to fix the fees of private schools has also been validated. Bilaspur High Court has declared the School Fee Regulation Act of 2020 as constitutional. Bilaspur and Chhattisgarh Private School Association had challenged it in the High Court.

This decision of Bilaspur High Court will provide great relief to the parents. NowPrivate school feesTransparency and accountability in the hike has been made mandatory. Private schools in Chhattisgarh cannot increase fees by more than 8% without permission. Now school fee hike will not be valid without the approval of the committee. The fee committee will get rights like a civil court. It is also necessary to hear the objections of the parents. If the committee wants, it can also summon records from the schools.

Private school fees will be curbed

The state government is going to take a big step to control the arbitrary fees of private schools in Chhattisgarh, the government is now considering the right to decide the fees of private schools. This can provide great relief to thousands of parents, who are troubled by the increasing school fees every year. At present, private schools in the state increase fees arbitrarily, which puts an additional financial burden on middle-class families. In such a situation, this proposed decision of the state government can prove to be a big change in the interest of parents.

Regulatory framework will be created on fee determination

The education department is working towards preparing a regulatory framework to control the fees of private schools, under which schools will have to take permission from the state government before increasing the fees. After this system is implemented, it will be mandatory for every school to give details of its fee structure and expenses to the government.

Parents were demanding for a long time

In Chhattisgarh, parents have been demanding for a long time to curb the increasing fees of private schools. Many times, parent associations had appealed to the district administration and the government on this issue. Despite online classes during the lockdown, many schools had increased the fees.

Ban on unnecessary fees

When the new system is implemented, unnecessary fees such as admission fees, development fees, compulsory donations etc. levied by schools will also be banned. The government believes that extortion in the name of education will not be tolerated under any circumstances.

The post Private School Fees Fixed: High Court’s Big Ruling! State Govt Gets Power to Regulate Private School Fees, Major Setback for Institutions first appeared on Rightsofemployees.com.