Also, the Gujarat High Court’s order on more than 60 petitions filed by schools and other associations challenging the cap on school fees, is awaited
Even as the 120 days that the Fee Regulatory Committee (FRC) was given to make their decision on the proposals on fee structure submitted by schools known closes to an end on Sunday (September 24), a major chunk of nearly 200 schools in the city are staring at uncertainty.
A total of 252 schools from Ahmedabad had approached the FRC, which was formed under the Gujarat Self-Financed Schools (Regulation of Fees) Act, 2017, on May 4 with proposals justifying their respective fee. Self-financed schools across the state were asked to submit their proposal within 25 days and the FRC was directed to reach a decision on each of the proposal within 90 days of receiving them. However, till date, only 50 schools have received a definitive response from the FRC.
Also, the Gujarat High Court’s order on more than 60 petitions filed by schools and other associations challenging the cap on school fees, is awaited. It may be noted that these petitioners are opposed to the fee regulation.
It is believed that the FRC may not want to announce their decision when the High Court order is still pending.
The upper limit of fees that private schools can charge has been fixed at Rs 15,000 for primary, Rs 25,000 for secondary and Rs 27,000 for higher secondary level through the Act.
A gazette notification published on August 24 stated that the Gujarat government through a notification under the Gujarat Self-Financed Schools (Regulation of Fees) Act 2017 stipulated that the fee regulatory committee according to the new amendment will have 120 days to fix fees for schools.
The government had earlier fixed a 90-day time frame to fix fees. The government had clearly stated that the fee regulatory committee will declare the new fee structure within 120 days from the date of proposal submission (it was 90 days under the earlier rule).
Ajay Bhatt from the state Education Department said, “A total of 252 schools in the city had approached the FRC. While it 50 schools have received a decision, over 200 schools are expected to get a definitive answer soon.”
A senior official with the department, requesting anonymity, said, “It is most likely that the FRC will not give its verdict till the High Court passes its order. While the schools that did not approach the HC do not have to wait for the order, certain observations by the court may have an implication for them. Hence, the FRC will want to wait.”
FRC CRITERIA TO ALLOW HIKE
- Location of the school
- Investment cost incurred on setup
- Infrastructure, quality of education, facilities
- Admin expenditure, maintenance of services and utilities
- Excess fund generated from NRIs as part of charity
- Student strength
- Classes and courses of study offered
- Qualification of teaching and non-teaching staff
- Salary components and yearly increments of staff
- Reasonable revenue surplus for development purposes, education and expansion
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