Panels for regulating school fees come up in 5 divisions in Maharashtra

PUNE: The Divisional Fee Regulatory Committees (DFRC) for schools have been constituted in five of the eight divisions in the state including Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur and Aurangabad after a delay of nearly two years. A government resolution to this effect was issued on Monday.
Now, parents and school managements can appeal against any issue about fees to the respective divisional committee and if not satisfied with the committee’s decision, they can file an appeal before the state-level review committee.

All the committees are headed by retired district court judges and comprise education department officials as well as chartered accountants.
However, parents’ associations said that till the time certain clauses in the Fee Regulation Act such as making it acceptable for individual parents to approach the committees instead of mandating at least 25% of parents to make a representation, are not amended, the committees will remain weak.
Varsha Gaikwad, in a series of tweets late on Monday night, said, “Appointment of Chartered Accountants will be useful for monitoring the financial affairs of the institutions. Committees for the remaining divisions will be announced soon.”
“Based on the selection panel’s recommendations, we have also strengthened the statelevel revision committee. While most educational institutions have been doing a stellar job during the pandemic we have still been receiving representations/complaints from parents regarding overcharging by a few. Our policy discourages commercialisation and profiteering in the education sector. Strict action will be taken against schools indulging in malpractices,” she said.
N K Jarag, retired education director and one of the members in the state review committee, explained the process. “As per the Fee Regulation Act, the schools need to present their fees structure, the proposal for hike among others before the parent-teacher associations to get it sanctioned. However, even if it gets sanctioned, if the parents have an issue with it, they can approach the DFRC. Not just the parents, even the management, if it feels justice has not been done, can approach the DFRC. The committee has a district judge as well as CA so that the legal and financial aspect of the case is thoroughly studied. After their decision, if any party feels the decision is unfair, they can then appeal to the state review committee whose decision will then be final,” he said.