NGO to hold statewide seminar on fee bill

NGO to hold statewide seminar on fee bill

To challenge or not to challenge. That is the biggest question facing Forum for Fairness In Education, an NGO. The NGO is gearing up once again to analyse and identify the recently-passed Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Bill, 2011. At a meeting of the NGO's committee on Saturday, members arrived at a decision to hold a state-wide seminar on the bill to gauge the reaction of people, understand the pros and cons and accordingly decide whether to approach a court. After the passing of the bill, the majority view was that the bill's contents were very vague. The matter is once again gaining momentum primarily because of a provision within the bill, that is said to be against parents. "The committee felt there is a need to brainstorm over the nature of the bill. As per the bill, schools proposing to hike their fees will have to inform the PTA eight months in advance. This means the issue of fee hikes is going to re-surface as management will be soon commencing with the process of placing their proposal in sometime," said Jayant Jain, the president of the forum. Members affiliated to the forum and parents interested in sharing their opinions who know the finer details of the draft can participate in the seminar. Other major issues that the forum aspires to gain insight into has to do with the vagueness on the extent of fee hike that be levied by the management. "Schools are now legally allowed to levy 15% fee hike over and above the reasonable surplus but with no specification on its limits. There is no clarity about institutes who have hiked fees prior to the passing of the bill. Towards the end of this month, we will be holding a state-wide workshop where more queries can be heard. All of these will be compiled and represented to the government," said Jain. The NGO thinks the opinions expressed at the seminar will help it decide whether it should approach the court seeking changes in the bill. "Only after we gauge public opinion can we arrive at a consensus on whether to approach the court or not," said Jain. According to Forum for Fairness in Education, the current bill favours private institutes.