Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 4

Private school managements are opposing the Himachal Pradesh Private Schools (Regulations of Fee and Other Related Matters) Bill, 2021, while parents of students want that the fee should be decided by consensus in the general house conducted by the school managements.

Twenty-seven suggestions were received for the draft of the Bill uploaded on the website of the education department till the June 30 deadline. The suggestions have been sent to the Secretary, Education, said the Director, Higher Education, Amarjeet Sharma.

The private schools are demanding 6 to 10 per cent increase in annual charges. Some schools are of the opinion that having a large number of stakeholders in the Bill drafting committee would only delay the decision. They want a committee comprising just the Director (Education), Deputy Commissioners, presidents of the parent-teacher associations and representatives of school managements. The parents’ associations argue that when the fee of private institutions for higher education is fixed by the higher education department then why the same pattern cannot be followed for schools. There are 1,570 private schools in the state.

“We are willing to pay a 3 per cent increase in annual charges,” the president of the parents’ association in Shimla, Ramesh Thakur, said, adding that the fee should be reduced in view of the pandemic as only online classes have been held.

Several parents have maintained that their paying capacity has been badly hit due to reduced earnings. The fee, in fact, should be nominal because of the pandemic, they said, adding that the Bill should be passed in the upcoming monsoon session.