The Telangana Education Commission has recommended the constitution of an exclusive Commission for the regulation of fee in private unaided schools in the State.
The Commission has suggested that the Government pass a Bill constituting the commission in the State Legislature to give statutory backing to the fee regulation panel. “A law has to be enacted or else, the courts will not accept,” Education Commission chairman Akunuri Murali said.
He said the Commission has recommended that the statutory commission be headed by a High Court judge or a retired bureaucrat and it should have four to five members drawn from the relevant fields. The Commission has recently submitted its report as well as a draft Bill envisaging stricter regulation on the fee structure in the educational institutions to the Government.
He said similar panels headed by the Collectors should be constituted at the district level to monitor whether the schools follow the norms set by the fee regulation commission. “The district panels headed by the Collector and comprising an official drawn from the Education Department will act as extended arm of the fee regulation commission,” he said.
He told The Hindu that the Education Commission has suggested that the Government categorise the schools into different categories considering their location, infrastructure, quality of teaching and other aspects. Accordingly, an upper fee limit should be for schools in each of these categories so that they would not impose a burden on parents and at the same time, enhance quality of teaching.
“The upper fee limit should be modelled in such a manner that the fee structure does not exceed limits. This should be akin to the Consumer Price Index,” he said.
