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Maharashtra education dept orders inspection of schools over fee hike

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A few days after the Maharashtra education department formed committees to address complaints concerning fee hikes in private schools, it has ordered an inspection of four such schools in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai . As per a circular issued by the office of the deputy director on September 16, two committees of department officials have been formed to look into the complaints of parents for fee hike from different schools.

Schools to be inspected over fee hike:

Officials appointed by the department will inspect the documents of St Josephs’ School in Panvel, Euro School in Thane, Universal School in Ghatkopar and Bright Start Fellowship International School in Grant Road regarding the last seven years.

The state education department has called for inspection of documents of four schools in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region following complaints of unjustified fee structures. The parents who met the minister claimed that schools are forcing them to pay higher fees during the pandemic for services that are not being provided. While the Bombay high court stayed a government circular asking schools not to hike fees, the panels will look into hikes and structures in accordance with existing fee laws.

Panel discussions over fee hike with schools:

Each panel consists of six officials from the education department, and will evaluate the financial and academic documents and approvals for St Joseph School, New Panvel, Euro School, Thane, Universal School, Ghatkopar, and Bright Start Fellowship International School, Grant Road.

Universal School said that it would respond after “taking legal opinion” while a spokesperson from the Xaviers’ Group which runs St Josephs’ School said, “The concerned education official has issued a letter to the school on September 10 and the same has been replied to.”

A senior official from the department said, “Private schools have the power to fix their own fees as per the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fees) Act, 2011. However, the Act has set some rules regarding a cap on the percentage fee hike, duration after which it can be imposed and has also laid down the procedure for its approval by the Parent Teachers Association. However, some parents have alleged that schools are not following these norms. We have thus asked for an inspection of such schools to verify their documents.”

Parents’ grievances and interventions filed on fee hike:

Last week, several parents of students from different schools in the city met Bacchu Kadu, state minister for school education. Jayant Jain, president of the Forum for Fairness in Education coordinated with the delegation of parents from around 35 schools. The official also added, “In the days to come, the department plans to inspect more schools. “We are doing it in phases as we are short-staffed due to Covid-19 restrictions.”

A collective of 30 parents has filed intervention applications with the Bombay High Court supporting a Government Resolution or GR passed by the State on May 8. This GR said that schools are restricted from hiking their fees for the academic year of 2020-21. Further, the State’s order had said parents should be allowed to make pending payments in monthly instalments.

High Court’s jurisdiction over the issue of fee hike:

The High Court had stayed the implementation of this GR after the Association of Indian Schools accompanied by a handful of other groups filed petitions asking for a stay in the order. In response, the parents want the High Court to lift the stay so that these actions can be put in place effectively.
The HC had thus directed private unaided schools to consider giving an option to pay fees in reasonable installments and online. Three intervention applications came up on Monday before a bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Anuja Prabhudessai which was hearing the fees issue. The parents want the HC to direct that the schools only charge tuition fees from last academic year on an installment basis and to not charge any fee for the lockdown period till schools reopen. They also want the HC to restrain schools from expelling any student or bar them from attending ongoing online classes if they are unable to pay the proportionate fees due to Covid-19 caused cash crunch.
One of the primary contentions of the parents is that the coronavirus crisis has forced an unprecedented economic crisis resulting in a cash crunch. Keeping this in mind, parents want to be allowed to pay the existing fees in instalments while also making sure they are not charged fees for the lockdown period. Additionally, the parents have asked for schools to be barred from expelling students from in-person or online classes if they’re unable to pay the fees on time.
At the hearing via video-conferencing, petitioners represented by counsel Milind Sathe, Pravin Samdani, Prateek Seksaria along with advocates Amogh Singh, Nivit Srivastava and Vidhi Partners had earlier argued that the GR was not valid as the state had no power either under the Fees Act or the Disaster Management Act to regulate fees of private schools and to decide what fees can be charged for the forthcoming academic year.
Such decision impinges on the constitutional rights under Article 19(1) (g) of the school managements “to practice any profession, carry on any occupation, trade or business.”
The HC had prima facie agreed that the GR was “without jurisdiction.” The next hearing is now on August 20.

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