Karnataka govt forms redressal committees over school fees row

BENGALURU: Dispute redressal committees were formed in Karnataka after the education department announced a 30 per cent cut in the tuition fees -- the only fees that schools were allowed to charge for the 2020-21 academic year.

This comes after several parents complained of the schools' non-compliance to the government order about the new fee structure.

A redressal committee has been formed in Bengaluru headed by the Zonal director or associate director. In districts, committees are formed headed by deputy directors or DIET principals.

Powers under Section 133 of the Karnataka Education Act 1983, have been conferred when forming these committees. As per that, in case of disputes, disputes should be settled at the BEO level in Zonal level.

BEO's will create a special counter and submit the grievances to the committee the same day they arrive. The BEO should ensure that the complainant does not get harassed in any way.

The complaints will be scrutinised by the committee headed by president and notices will be issued to the parents and the school management to appear before them for a resolution. In case parents do not make it for the hearing, the BEO has to inform the committee.

After receiving the complaint and issuing the notice, a hearing will be held every Monday or on the next day in case, Monday is a holiday. The speaking order against private school management will be passed to the school managements, BEO, DDPI (admin). Reasons will be specified in the order, in case the complaint is rejected.

In the course of the dispute during a pending grievance, the management has to give an undertaking that students will not be deprived of education.

Parents have to submit the fees receipt of 2019-20 when submitting a grievance. Along with that, the records of fees of 2020-21 sought by the school management should also be submitted.

As a counter to complaints, managements of schools need to also submit their grievances with supporting documents, with the class-wise fee details to the committee.

In case of schools cannot accept that 70 per cent tuition fees, the managements have to write to the committee with an affidavit containing reasons of refusal to comply with the government order. In case parents cannot pay the fees set by the management, supporting documents and an affidavit will be needed to clarify why they cannot pay the fees.

A register will be maintained for the complaints received from the management through the BEO. Before taking the application, the committee will check for compliance with the school's guidelines to the fee structure. In the case of school management or parents do not give proper documents, they need to be provided an endorsement that certain documents are not submitted.