On Wednesday, Dada Bhuse, the school education minister, informed the members of the Legislative Assembly that his department was working on making changes in the draft of the Fee Regulation Act to address issues that cropped up even after the introduction of the rule
School Education Minister Dada Bhuse
Educational institutes exploiting loopholes in the existing Fee Regulation Act to force parents to pay higher fees under non-academic heads could be a thing of the past. To make the legislation more parent-friendly and tighten the screws on erring schools, the state has initiated a move to amend the Act.
On Wednesday, Dada Bhuse, the school education minister, informed the members of the Legislative Assembly that his department was working on making changes in the draft of the Fee Regulation Act to address issues that cropped up even after the introduction of the rule. “I request MLAs to give their suggestions so that ideas shared by members can be incorporated in the revised Act,” Bhuse stated.
BJP MLA Yogesh Sagar, during the question hour session, raised the issue of schools charging exorbitant fees in violation of the Act.
A BJP MLA has suggested that parents’ representation be increased to 50 per cent of the total student strength in a school. REPRESENTATION PIC/iStock
Sagar stated that parent-teacher associations (PTA) have 12 to 15 members, as against over 2000 students in a school. “The PTA decides about fee hikes. But, the representation of parents is minimal in comparison to the number of students being admitted to educational institutes. The parents’ representation should be increased to 50 per cent of the total student strength in a school,” Sagar demanded during the discussion.
Schools can hike fees up to 15 per cent every two years or seek approval from 76 per cent of parents if they want to increase fees further. Echoing similar views, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Varun Sardesai mentioned that schools are finding loopholes in the fee regulation rules. “The educational institute, apart from academic fees, charges parents under several other heads such as camps, laboratory, and sports. The education department should consider all fees taken, and not only academic fees, under the Regulation Act,” he said.
Varun Sardesai, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA
Sardesai added that the government should consider relaxing norms and reducing the percentage of parents required to file a complaint against a fee hike. Parents have time and again raised the issue of interest rates and late fees. But, many such complaints have gone unattended as, according to the existing norms, 25 per cent of parents (of the affected standard or school) need to come together to fight fee hikes or any other violation.
As many other members highlighted complaints they had received, Bhuse admitted that some schools were finding different routes to bypass the Fee Regulation Act, stating that it is not a business. “A school is not a business, and if anyone exhibits such thinking, it is not correct,” Bhuse said. The minister, concluding the debate, assured the Assembly, “All such complaints will be taken care of while making the changes in the existing Fee Regulation Act.”
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