State plans law to curb fee hikes, donations in schools……….Sanjeev Shivadekar & Anahita Mukherji
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government will soon bring in a law to curb the menace of donations for school admissions and steep fee hikes in the state.
Replying to a query during the question hour in the legislative assembly, Balasaheb Thorat, school education minister, stated that the government was keen to bring about a law to have check on the fee hike and donation issue. The law will regulate all aided and unaided schools, he said, adding, The government will get recommendations of the Kumud Bansal committee by Thursday and subsequently, a government resolution (GR) would come into effect for the uniformity in fee hike.
The issue of schools demanding huge donations and taking excess fees was raised by the members of the treasury benches and the Opposition MLAs. Several members cutting across the party lines alleged that many schools are violating the norms laid down by the department. For instance, the members pointed out that several schools in Aurangabad had gone ahead with the admission process in May and June, despite the orders of the department not to begin any fresh admission process till the government announces its new education policy.
Replying on the issue, the minister stated that if any school has taken excess fees or donations, action will be taken against the offenders. The excess money would be recovered from the school management and will be given back to the parents, he added.
The department has also announced that a committee of parents and teachers would be formed at the district level to monitor functioning of schools.
The state government had formed a committee to regulate school fee last year, headed by former IAS officer Kumud Bansal.