Mumbai: Parents bodies agitate over changes in fee regulation Act

Upset with the state government, parents from different parts of the city and its suburbs came together to protest against the amendment of the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fee) Act 2011, passed this year, at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus' (CSMT) Azad Maidan. Parents have demanded certain changes in the bill like allowing the individual parent to complain to the Divisional Fee Regulation Committee (DFRC) and removing the '25 per cent strength of parents required to approach the DFRC' clause for complaints against the fee hike. More of these clauses are there in the bill that have not gone down well with the parents.

Many parents have alleged that the bill is more inclined to favour school management than parents. Allowing schools to collect late fees of school with interest have also not been accepted by many parents.

Anubha Sahai, President, India Wide Parents Association, said, "The bill is passed right now in the lower house and we have been assured by an opposition party that it will be opposed in the upper house. If it is passed in legislative council then we will challenge it in the court."

Parents demands are that the admission fee of the pre-primary section should also be included in the Act. Excluding pre-primary admission fees will encourage schools to charge whatever they want claim parents association.

Another parent from Panvel, Ravindra Kalambekar, said, "The schools have not taken fees in past years as per the fee regulation act 2011. Hence our demand is that the education minister should ask schools to continue the schools' fee which was in 2014. There are many clauses in the act that are going against parents. If the act will get passed in legislative council we all parents have decided to spread the word to go for NOTA in the next election."