Regulating school fees: Special team to monitor school fees in Dhanbad; Compliance required after parent complaints

Dhanbad: A five-member special team will be constituted at the district level to ensure compliance with the decisions taken during the District Fee Committee meeting regarding fee regulation in recognised public schools across the district. The decision was taken following the meeting of the District Level Fee Committee held on April 22 under the chairmanship of deputy commissioner Aditya Ranjan.

According to the directives issued by the district education superintendent, all principals of private schools have been instructed to strictly comply with the guidelines related to school fees and make it public before the commencement of the academic session. Schools will be required to upload complete details of their fees on their official websites in Jan every year. Action will be initiated against institutions that have failed to publish the prescribed fee structure on their websites during the current session.

DC Ranjan said that an audit would be conducted to examine the fee hikes implemented by schools since 2021. He said, “As per the existing norms, schools cannot increase fees by more than 10% within two years. Therefore, all institutions will have to publicly disclose their fee details.”

The proposed five-member monitoring team will include a magistrate, officials from the education department, and other designated members. The team will closely monitor any increase in fees collected under various heads such as re-admission charges, development fees, and other additional expenses imposed on parents.

Manoj Mishra, general secretary of the Jharkhand Parents’ Association, said, “Arbitrary fee collection by private schools have become a major burden for parents.”