Maharashtra govt sets strict fee hike rules for schools

In what could be a huge relief to parents and students, Maharashtra finally has a policy for private schools to curb arbitrary fee hike. A government resolution (GR) was released on Thursday after the policy was deliberated on for over a year.

The policy is parent-friendly, but ambiguities have left several stakeholders disappointed, with some planning to move court.

According to the GR, schools will have to set up a website disclosing vital information about the school and its management. The website should list optional subjects, the fee structure, total fees for the year, the heads under which fees are to be charged, the refund policy, PTA formation, and the number of holidays in an academic year. It should also list the school’s balance sheet and the contact details of the management.

“The state has defined the heads under which fees can be collected by schools,” said Jayant Jain, president of the NGO Forum for Fairness in Education, which has been the frontrunner in the fee hike battle. “A school can hike fees once in three years, not every year. In 2009-2010, almost all schools increased fees twice. In view of this GR, they will have to give refunds.”

Parents feel vigilance is the key to the success of the policy. Arundhati Chauhan, president, PTA United Forum, said: “The implementation of the GR is important, but there should be strict and continuous monitoring.”   

But several aspects, like the maximum limit for reasonable surplus, have not been defined in the GR, and parents fear the loopholes will be misused by school managements. “Several organisations have suggested that the reasonable surplus should not be more than 4%. Otherwise there will be profiteering,” Jain said. “We will challenge this clause in the high court. Even the Supreme Court (SC), in a recent judgment, allowed 15% surplus for 4 years — approximately 4% per year.”

Abha Dharam Pal, principal, Utpal Sanghvi High School, Juhu, said: “The GR is parents- and students-friendly and at face value seems to be management-friendly too. The staff-student ratio should be left to schools’ discretion. Also, managements should not be upset about disclosing information on the school website.”

“We have taken several suggestions from the Bansal Committee report, which are parent-friendly,” said school education minister Balasaheb Thorat. “The SC, in a similar judgment, used the term ‘reasonable for surplus’. We have taken legal opinion on the matter and have decided not to define the term.”

An education department official said: “To have a blanket policy for thousands of private schools in the state is very difficult. So we have settled on practical rules. The deputy director who will be monitoring fee hikes can decide on the surplus amount for individual schools.”