Fleecing by private schools continues, 27 complaints filed in Ludhiana

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, August 29

The rampant fleecing by certain unaided private schools seems to be continuing unabatedly as the regulatory panel constituted by the district administration to check illegal practices by educational institutions has received at least 27 complaints since its constitution less than two months ago, the administration has confirmed.

Students, parents free to share grievances

Any act of commission or omission by schools and any violation of the law will be dealt with sternly. Students and parents should feel free to share their grievances, if any, for prompt and speedy resolution. Surabhi Malik, DC

While 10 such complaints have already been resolved by taking appropriate action, the rest 17 were still under investigation, the officials have said.

Deputy Commissioner Surabhi Malik told The Tribune, here, on Monday that the district administration had adopted zero tolerance against fleecing or any other unjustified/illegal practice by the unaided private schools in the district and strict action would be taken against erring educational institutions.

She said the regulatory panel would ensure proper implementation of the Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutions (Amendment) Act, 2019, in the district.

Divulging the proceedings in the complaints received so far, panel chairperson Amarjit Bains, who is the Khanna Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), said the panel was acting swiftly on the complaints received and suitable action was initiated in the matter.

He said both parties involved in the matter were called during the investigation and after going through the documentary material evidence on record, the panel was taking action as per rules.

The complaints received so far mostly pertained to non-issuance of school leaving certificates, charging of exorbitant fee, unjustified hike in the fee, and forced sale of school books and uniforms by the educational institutions.

While the majority of the private schools, against whom the complaints were received, acceded to the fault on their part and agreed to refund extra charges, issue the requisite certificates, rollback the fee hike and stop the forced sale of material, some complaints were even found false or without any basis just to exert pressure on the educational institutions to achieve their nefarious designs.

In one such complaint filed on the state government’s grievances redressal portal and forwarded to the panel by the DPI (Secondary), the panel found that the complaint was made to put pressure on the school authorities for changing the result of a student, following which the complaint was disposed of with a stern warning to the complainant against indulging in such practice in future.

In another complaint, an educational institution was accused of not allowing the student to appear in the quarterly exams due to the non-payment of fee, which was forwarded to the School Education Department for taking appropriate action as the panel was not authorised to take any action in such matters.

The complaints received so far were redressed as early as within 24 hours and maximum up to 45 days, depending upon the nature and contents of the matter.

“We are investigating the pending complaints and necessary action will be taken in the matter as per law,” the panel head added.

It was on July 7 that the district administration had constituted a regulatory panel to ensure proper implementation of the Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutions (Amendment) Act, 2019, in the district.

The panel was also mandated to provide a mechanism for the purpose of regulating fees of the private educational institutions in Ludhiana.

The development assumed significance as the students and their parents of several unaided private schools in the district were facing exploitation in terms of fee, books, transportation, and other levies charged from them in the absence of any concrete action against the violators.

The DC had directed the panel members to implement the provisions of the Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutions (Amendment) Act, 2019, in letter and in spirit and ensure that the students and their parents did not face any kind of problem or exploitation with respect to fee hike, compulsory sale of books, exorbitant transportation charges or any other issue by the unaided private schools.

The panel

Headed by Khanna ADC Amarjit Bains as its chairperson, the seven-member panel comprised District Education Officer (Secondary) as member secretary and five members, including Assistant Commissioner (Grievances), District Education Officer (Elementary), retired DEO Sawaranjit Kaur, retired principal Anoop Kumar Passi, and a superintendent grade-I in the DC office.

What the law says

The Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutions Act, 2016, the Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutions Amendment Act, 2019, and the Punjab State Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institutions Rules, 2017, provide for the constitution of a regulatory body with a view to providing a mechanism for the purpose of regulating fee of unaided educational institutions in the state and for the matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

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