Fee Committee: Parents have high expectations

After a long wait, Justice (Retd) Sunil Hali has been appointed as Chairperson of the Committee for Fixation, Determination and Regulation of Fee of Private Schools. The appointment has been made for a term of three years from the date of assuming charge. The Fee Committee was headless from November 13, 2022 after the ending of the tenure of its former chairman Justice (Retd) Muzaffar Hussain Attar. Notably, Justice Attar had passed several landmark judgments during this tenure. The pronouncements included implementation of waiving of admission fee, no transport charges during the lockdown period, fixing of monthly fee in private schools, reduction of arbitrary fee hikes by few schools and several other orders that were welcomed by the parents. Now, parents have high expectations from the newly appointed chairperson as well so that certain schools are not allowed to fleece people. True, private schools are not supposed to do charity but at the same time, they should not be allowed to go for arbitrary hikes on their own and fleece parents in the name of so-called ‘quality education’ and shoddy ‘international’ tags and affiliations. If they feel they need to hike tuition, transport or any other fee, the school administrations should do the same through the proper channels. It has been noticed that on certain occasions, the private schools have issued orders on their own and acted like law-enforcing agencies. Last month, the Private Schools Association of Jammu and Kashmir (PSAJK) issued ‘directions’ to all of its member schools to cap any fee hike at a maximum of 10 per cent. Interestingly, the body said it had issued the statement while taking ‘action on complaints received by a number of parents regarding arbitrary hike in fee by certain schools’. While the JKFFC had been headless for the last three months, the PSAJK shockingly issued ‘directions’ to schools on its own. The PSAJK had stoked a similar controversy last year as well after it issued a ‘rate card’ for transport charges. The rate card had created an uproar as parents then complained that the same was issued without any consultations and that the PSAJK has no right to fix rates on its own. Despite clear orders from the concerned authorities that the schools cannot fix fares on its own, the PSAJK statement not only fixed rates but had also stated that it would charge 50 per cent fare during vacations and other off periods as well. The fee committee had later intervened and allowed transporters to hike fees by 12 per cent. It is hoped that the newly appointed chairperson takes notes of any such future unlawful actions, if any, by schools and bodies. The Fee Committee should also extensively advertise its helpline and contact numbers through the media so that parents feel at ease to lodge complaints in case of violations by the schools. At the same time, other concerned authorities too should pull up their socks so that the orders of the Fee Committee are implemented in letter and spirit.