KOZHIKODE: You would surely be shelling out anywhere between Rs 14,000 to Rs 30,000 or even more every year as school fees if your child happens to be studying in an unaided school. What if the school hikes the fees mid-year upsetting your already tight budget? No use protesting as schools have all the right to do so if recent judicial pronouncements are anything to go by.
"There is no statutory prohibition for a management to fix a particular fee for an academic year and there is no guideline issued by CBSE as to how the fee structure should be maintained," ruled the High Court recently. This was in connection with a case in which parents protested the sudden fee hike by a CBSE-affiliated school in Ernakulam.
Fleecing rampant
The CBSE regional office has come across instances in which some affiliated schools in the state were found to have collected as many as 20 different types of fees. These included 'Computer Fee' from four-year-old LKG students and fees for conducting talent search exams of private agencies from all students.
However, CBSE school management representatives played down such instances as 'islolated cases'. "Most of the CBSE-affiliated schools are charging fees according to the facilities provided to students. It is unfair to cite a few cases and say that all CBSE schools are fleecing students," said Indira Rajan, general secretary, Kerala CBSE School Management Association.
However, frequent complaints on the part of parents has put the spotlight on on the need to set up a fee regulatory body for unaided schools on the lines of self-financing professional colleges. Already, states such as Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Assam have enacted laws regulating the fee structure of private schools.
Government cites helplessness
"The state government had imposed certain stringent conditions as a pre-requisite for granting of NOC to unaided schools with a view to bringing in some sort of regulation over such institutions. But the move was turned down by the Supreme court," said A Shajahan, Secretary, General Education.
However, the government's sincerity in the matter has been questioned by certain quarters. "The government is maintaining criminal silence on the issue and has given unaided schools a free hand. If the government has any sincerity, it should urgently bring in a regulatory mechanism to prevent fleecing of students. But that requires strong political will," opined M Shajarkhan, education rights activist.