Formed District Fees Regulatory Committee
After receiving several complaints from Parents for Fees hiking in Pandemic, Maharashtra School Education Minister, Varsha Gaikwad has announced the formation of district fee regulation committees in 5 districts of Mumbai, Pune, Nasik, Nagpur and Aurangabad.
The each of the Committee consists of A Retired Judge, experts from Education Sectors and Chartered Accountants. Inclusion of Chartered Accountant will facilitate understanding of Financial Matters of Educational Institutions in better ways.
Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad through its twitter handle said, ““Parents aggrieved by unjust school fee hike, look no further. Divisional Fee Regulatory Committees (DFRCs) are active now in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik & Aurangabad. While most educational institutions have been doing a stellar job during the pandemic, we’ve still been receiving representations/complaints from parents regarding overcharging by a few. DFRCs for the remaining divisions will soon be formed. Based on the selection panel’s recommendations, we’ve also strengthened the state level revision committee. Our policy discourages commercialization and profiteering in the education sector. Strict action will be taken against schools indulging in malpractices.”
The Maharashtra Fee Regulation Act 2011 has provisions for the formation of a divisional fee regulatory committee to resolve fee-related complaints between school management and parent-teacher association. As per the Act, schools can only increase their annual fees by a maximum of 15 per cent every two years. The decision to hike fees has to be approved in the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) body formed at the school level.
Meanwhile, education activists are already raising objections to the same due to basic flaw in the rules
- Complaints to be done within a month of the fee hike but many Parents are fighting against the schools hiked their fees last year 2021
- As per the act Single person cannot raise the complain. The complain is to be raised by 25% of Parents. But this goes against the principle of justice.
- The consequences and Penalties for not following the regulations are not mentioned
