Academic session starts sans fee regulatory panels

Amaninder Pal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 10

The much-touted fee regulatory bodies announced by the government are yet to become functional though the new academic session has begun.

All private schools have charged the first instalment of the annual tuition fees and other charges, though the setting up of such bodies was paved by the previous SAD-BJP government in December.

Acting on numerous complaints of private schools charging exorbitant fee and other charges, the Assembly had in December last year passed ‘Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutes Act, 2016.’

The Act states that the state would constitute division-level regulatory bodies with divisional commissioners as its chairpersons.

Apart from addressing grievances on charging excessive fees, it was mandated that such committees will also have the power “to check excessive fee hike by institutions to earn profit” and “to check that the fee structure should remain within limits under the Act.”

Although the previous government had cleared all legal formalities, the Congress has not constituted a single body in the state, sources said.

“Divisional Commissioners have started receiving complaints which are being forwarded to Circle Education Officers (CEO) and District Education Officers (DEO) concerned. However, since the committees have not been constituted, nobody can take penal action against erring institutes,” said a senior education officer.

Apart from provision of slapping Rs30,000 to Rs2 lakh fine in case of private institutes, the Act empowers committees to recommend cancellation of a school’s affiliation in case its management violates the Act thrice.

Additional Chief Secretary (Education) G Vajralingam and Director Public Instructions (School) SS Kahlon could not be contacted.

BJP wants Guv to intervene 

Chandigarh: Reacting to the parents’ agitation against fee hike by private schools, the state BJP on Monday urged Governor VP Singh Badnore to issue directions to schools not to levy any fresh charges till the issue was resolved. A delegation comprising BJP state vice-presidents Harjit Singh Grewal and Iqbal Lingh Lalpura and state secretaries Vineet Joshi and Vijay Puri demanded that the regulatory body, comprising five commissioners, should submit a report within three months and till then, the schools should be asked to charge fee as per the last session. tns

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