Soon, parents may have to pay higher fees for their children studying in CBSE schools as several institutions in the city have applied to the Fee Determination Committee to revise their fees.
The committee will take into consideration the expenses incurred by the school based on facilities such as smart classrooms, salaries paid to the teachers and air-conditioning.
In January, the Supreme Court passed an interim order directing members of the Association of Management of Private Schools (CBSE) to make a representation to the committee to review their fees based on the facilities.
“The fee has to be determined on the basis of the facilities provided by the school, in the manner in which the management of the school wishes to run the school,” the order stated.
Following the order, over 50 approached the committee, an official from the education department said.
According to several school principals, the fees fixed by the committee earlier did not take into account several facilities.
“Many schools were asked to increase their pupil-teacher ratio from 15:1 to 20:1 to suit the requirements of the committee,” one school principal said. , adding that many facilities like air-conditioned classrooms were not considered, because the electricity costs increased.
Some parents feel the revision in fees will help reduce additional expenses borne by them.
According to R. Priyadarshini, whose daughter studies in a CBSE school, many schools in the city charge an additional fee under heads such as sports and other co-curricular activities.
An education department official said the applications would be dealt with individually. “We may increase the fees of some schools, but the committee will first inspect the facilities in each school,” he said.
