| Publication: The Times Of India Pune; | Date: May 8, 2009; | Section: Times City; | , |  |
Four regional panels to facilitate fee regulation The Body For Primary Unaided Schools, Which Will Have One Of The Four Panels Stationed In Pune, Will Be Headed By A Retired Judge; Rules To Come Into Effect From Academic Year
Pune: Even as the High Court order recently said that the private schools will have to defer fee hikes for now, the state government had indicated last week about setting up a fee regulation body for all unaided schools in the state.
The proposed fee regulation body for primary unaided schools, to be formed by the state government, will have four regional committees stationed in Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur and Aurangabad to cater to the large number of schools in the state, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, state education minister informed TOI on Tuesday.
The body will be headed by a retired judge and within two months, the entire board will be formed, he added. Fee regulation will come into effect from the 2009-10 academic year.
Vikhe-Patil said, “In two months’ time, the members of the body will be finalised and it will be headed by a retired judge. Since the number of schools in the entire state is so large, we decided to form regional committees, so that functioning will be easier.”
Since the regulation is to be implemented from the 2009-10 academic year, the schools will have to present their balance sheets before the body and justify the fee hike.
“Those who have raised their fees will have to give suitable reasons why they have done so. I know that some parents have already paid the fees, but, once the regulation body starts functioning and if there is any change, the schools will have to either repay the fees or the excess amount will have to be adjusted against the next academic year,” Vikhe-Patil said.
The said fee regulation body will be not only direct secondary school certificate (SSC) board schools but also the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Schools Certificate examination (ICSE) board-run schools as well as international schools situated in the state.
“All these years, we have seen the plight of parents as they struggle to put their children in good schools. Due to the high fees charged by the schools, some parents cannot afford to admit their children into good schools. The government has a certain responsibility and with every alternate school raising fees arbitrarily, we cannot just be silent spectators. So we decided to form this body,” Vikhe-Patil said.
Vasant Kalpande, former state director of primary education said, “There were efforts made earlier also to form such a body, but it never became operational. However, now that there are serious steps being taken to bring uniformity to the fee structure, it will really help govern the schools in the state.” He was present at the meeting held in Mumbai last week, when the decision to form the body was undertaken.
Kalpande, who was also the former chairman of the Maharashtra state Board for Secondary and Higher Secondary Education said, “There should be some standard prescribed for all establishments as, these days, schools charge tremendous fees which includes infrastructure, maintenance and other costs. Parents are being exploited and this should stop.”
On whether it will be feasible for the body to cater to the huge number of schools functioning in the state, Kalpande said, “Initially, there could be some difficulties, however, as it progresses, it will function smoothly. It is not an impossible task. A beginning has to be made somewhere.”
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