Visakhapatnam: As the state government has failed to form the District Fee Regulatory Committees (DFRCs) this year also, the parents of school-going students are worried about the rising fee structure in major schools of the city.
However, district education officer B. Lingeswar Reddy plans to take action on private unaided schools which are charging high fees by monitoring their fee structure online.
A team from the education department would identify the fee irregularities at all the schools.
“A website has been prepared for this purpose. Each private school management shall upload their fees structure on this web-platform. We will take action on the schools that charge more than the facilities provided to the students. We may also de-recognise such schools,” he said.
When asked about the delay in forming a DFRC, Mr Reddy informed that the association of private unaided schools has approached the High Court against the state government’s decision on fee regulatory bodies in each district. The court has issued a stay order on this.
The state government has not yet filed a counter to challenge the stay order.
Meanwhile, the parents are irked by the arbitrary fee rise. Already, the parents of Timpany Senior Secondary School have opposed the management’s decision to hike the fees.
As the academic year starts next month, more protests are likely to take place against the private school managements that take advantage of not having a DFRC. The fee structure shall be fixed based on the facilities provided in the school.
Some schools in the city are charging heavily. There is no grading of schools in Vizag, unlike other cities in North India.
The officials of the Education Department are unable to take any action against the schools due to lack of proper mechanism.
“There is no clear rule on how much a school should charge as fees. Unless the education department comes up with a clear-cut rule, the private schools would keep fleecing the parents,” Right-To-Education activist Narava Prakasa Rao said.
The Government Order issued by the state government had not mentioned about the exact amount a school shall collect from the parent. It also failed to chart out any instruction on capping of school fees.
