Key Points
Bill aims to create fee regulation mechanism for private schools
Commission will review existing fee structures
Retired justice to head investigative panel
Addresses parental complaints about high admission fees
At the same time, Basu also announced the formation of a commission to address complaints from parents regarding exorbitant fees and other grievances against school authorities.
It has been learned that the commission to be constituted for that purpose will be headed by a retired justice. The other members of the commission will include representatives from the different wings of the state education department, representatives from school education boards, and two educationists to be nominated by the state Education Minister.
The commission members will review the fee structures of different private schools operating in the state and address complaints of high free structures and high admission fees there.
On Tuesday, during the discussion on the floor of the house, the matter of skyrocketing fee structures and admission fees at different private schools in the state was raised by a BJP legislator from the Chhatna Assembly constituency in Bankura district, Satyanarayan Mukhopadhyay.
He also raised issues on the security aspects of the students at private schools in the wake of a recent incident of three students of a private school in Kolkata being injured after a glass panel fell from the school's fourth floor.
Admitting that the state school education department is aware of such complaints especially those related to fee structure in private schools, Basu acknowledged the growing complaints about high fees in private schools and assured that the government is taking steps to regulate them through the proposed Bill and commission.
