Mamata Banerjee said private schools should refrain from arbitrary fee hike.
After private hospitals and nursing homes, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hauled up different private schools during a meeting with their representatives.
Mamata alleged that she had received a number of complaints against schools who had been charging exorbitant amount of money for admission in terms of donations and tuition fees. DIidi during her interaction issued a strong warning to private schools . “There are complaints of arbitrary enhancement of fees, charging for transportation even if schools are shut and charging extra in the name of summer camps. I have also heard that schools accept donation in tunes of lakhs of rupees for admission,” she said.
Mamata formed a 15-member self-regulatory commission to review the operations of private schools. While interacting with the schools’ authorities, she also accepted the proposal that schools should submit a record of their balance sheet to the government.
“The education department secretary, two archbishops, representatives of the Director General of Police (DGP) and commissioner of Kolkata Police would be in the commission. Representatives of schools that would be part of this body are La Martiniere, Modern School, St Xavier’s, South Point School, DPS, Heritage School, Shri Shikshayatan and Loreto School,” the CM said.
She said she would review the commission’s activities after a year. Mamata said that the government did not want to interfere in the functioning of private schools and therefore the regulation part was left to themselves.
During the meeting she asked authorities of La Martiniere, Heritage School, Modern School and St Xavier’s about their admission and tuition fees and said it should be ensured that there was no donation involved in admission and hike percent of fees was not too steep. “Schools should not increase the burden of guardians by making purchase of books, exercise books, stationery, uniform and shoes compulsory from the school,” said West Bengal CM.
During the hour long meeting she told authorities of Shri Shikshayatan School that they had forced students to listen to ‘political speeches’. Sometime ago, the school had made students listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Mann ki Baat’. Without naming it, Mamata said, “I have heard that the principal of your school had played the video of a political speech on screen and made students listen to it. It is very bad. Even if it was my speech I would have objected to it. Tell her we know about the practice. Please ask the principal to stop it,” she said.
In the evening, at a separate press conference by CPIM MP Md Salim said that the forming of such a commission was an attempt to divert attention of people by bringing in a gimmick factor. “She had earlier formed a commission for chit fund and that of private hospitals as well but those comprised offenders themselves and in case too offending schools’ representatives would form the commission. It is an eyewash and nothing would come out of it,” Salim said.
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 "Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee meeting private educational institutions representative in Kolkata on Wednes")
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