With the State government tabling the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments (Amendment) Bill 2017 that aims to regulate private healthcare sector, several parent associations are now stepping up pressure and demanding that the Department of Primary and Secondary Education does the same with private schools.
Fee regulation is the primary concern. RTE Students and Parents’ Association general secretary B.N. Yogananda said there was an “urgent” need to fix the fee structure in schools. “A hike of 10% per year is acceptable, but not beyond this,” he said. The association also plans to meet Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait to ensure that the new fee structure is implemented for the 2018-19 academic year.
Many other associations, too, have voiced their support for more regulations. “When they can regulate the health sector, why can’t they do so for school fees. We have even approached the High Court in this regard,” said Vinodh Rajaraman, president of Karnataka Schools Parents’ Association.
Parents allege that most schools have already completed admissions for the next academic year and some have even hiked fees by around 30%. “Every year, there are assurances that there will be a cap on fee structure in private schools. But, the State government has sat on this issue for too long,” said Veena Ramesh, a parent who is completing admission for her son.
Although the Karnataka Education (Second Amendment) Act, 2017, imposes a penalty of up to ₹10 lakh on schools that hike fees, the department is yet to finalise the new fee structure. The existing draft fee structure has not been revised for 18 years. Block Education Officers, too, have not conducted inspections or imposed penalties as they say the draft structure is ‘obsolete’.
The Bill imposing the penalty was passed in the State legislature more than eight months ago. This Amendment had even brought schools affiliated to CBSE and the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations under the ambit of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983, for fee structure as well as child safety norms.
While the department has published the draft fee structure formula under the Karnataka Educational Institutions (Regulations of certain fees and donation) Amendment Rules 2016, the same has not been finalised.
D. Shashi Kumar, general secretary, Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, said: “Only a small percentage of schools are fleecing parents and by revising the fee structure for private school, it will ensure that all stakeholders are accountable,” he said. However, this needs to be done in a fair and transparent manner and not just as an “election gimmick”.
