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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Not for profit: why schools hiking fees arbitrarily must be reined in -Akshay Tarfe

Not for profit: why schools hiking fees arbitrarily must be reined in -Akshay Tarfe

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published Published on Apr 2, 2021   modified Modified on Apr 3, 2021

-The Indian Express

Maharashtra government’s move to regulate fees is laudable. But it must also address larger issues of transparency, accountability and inequality related to private schools

In February, Maharashtra Minister of State for Education Bacchu Kadu directed the state education department to create a “plan” to take action against private schools allegedly charging excessive fees and repeatedly violating state regulations on school education. Kadu has been at the forefront of hearing pleas by parents who have been protesting, filing petitions, and approaching court to prevent arbitrary fee hikes by private schools in the state. Since October, the state’s education department has been issuing notices and fees refund orders to several private schools and even defended fees school hike ban in the Bombay High Court.

As per the Government Resolution (GR) of March 17, the department is now actively seeking suggestions for amending the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fee) (Amendment) Act, 2018. In 2017, the Devendra Fadnavis-led state government amended the fees regulation act, allowing private schools to hike fees by 15 per cent every two years. Since then, the act has been used by private schools to hike school fees exponentially. Additional charges, such as extracurricular activity fees, uniforms and books, remain largely unregulated. The 75th round of National Sample Survey (NSS) Household Social Consumption on Education in Maharashtra shows that the average household may spend as much as Rs. 24073 per child/ year on school education.

Ironically, this hyper commercialisation of school education is happening in a state which is proud of its legacy of universal education driven by Phule-Shahu-Ambedkarite traditions. Almost 100 years ago, BR Ambedkar had warned about the commercialisation of education in the Bombay Legislative Council. Mahatma Jotiba Phule also cautioned about the privatisation of education to the Hunter Commission in 1881 and said, “educational machinery, both ministerial and executive, must be in the hands of Government.”

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The Indian Express, 2 April, 2021, https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/maharashtra-govt-private-schools-fees-rte-7256252/


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