April 26, 2012

Fee hike: State govt puts riders on private schools

AHMEDABAD: Schools in Gujarat will not be able to hike fees in an ad hoc manner from next year. In a first, the state government has passed a resolution which gives specific guidelines to all schools, including private ones affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education ( CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), among others.

The government resolution (GR), which will come into force from June 2013, states schools can set their own fee standard at the beginners' level - either junior KG or class I - so that parents can decide if the infrastructure is worth the fee. This will also help in deciding if it fits into their family budget. Besides, the fee can only be increased annually and not more than 10%. "We had no rules to take action against schools which affected rampant fee hikes," said primary education secretary R P Gupta. "Expect harsh measures against those who don't follow the guidelines." There are some 8,000 private primary schools in the state.

In the past year, parents have agitated over fee hike of more than 15% implemented by a number of private schools. One school had even affected a 25% hike.

"This is a good decision as it will allow us to plan our annual budgets. My daughter's school fee was hiked from Rs 80,000 last year to Rs 1.05 lakh this year. Such hikes are unaffordable even for the affording class," said a senior executive of a multinational company.

With the GR being issued, educationists are concerned about how many schools will actually implement the hike and how the government plans to monitor its enforcement. P 3

TEACHERS TO GAIN
The government resolution (GR), issued by the state education department, says that all teachers will have to be paid salaries through salary bank accounts. This will curb exploitation of teachers by many school managements who pay them peanuts - 1,500 to 4,000 only in cash The Sixth Pay Commission norms will be implemented by all schools, irrespective of the board and their affiliation with the government. This means better pay packets for teachers.
 

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