Jabalpur: The district administration in Jabalpur of Madhya Pradesh has cracked the whip on three big private schools for their unlawful means of fee recovery. District Collector Deepak Kumar Saxena has directed the schools to refund the excess fee charged by the parents. The authorities got to offend these schools after they allegedly collected ₹35 crore in unlawful fees over the past five years.
They are coupled with Nachiketa Senior Secondary School, Vijayanagar, which had collected ₹5.85 crore unjustifiably from 10,865 students. Likewise, Small Wonder Senior Secondary School unauthorisedly charged ₹12 crore to 18541 students, and St. Joseph Convent Senior Secondary School charged ₹15.91 crore to 18498 students. These fee hikes were said to completely violate the Madhya Pradesh Private Schools (Regulation of Fees and Related Matters) Act, 2017.
The district committee formulated in exercising this power under the Act considered the recent fee increases of these schools as unlawful. Hence, Collector Saxena asked the schools to help the parents return the extra amount deposited and brought a fine of two lakhs rupees to the institutions. This is because the ToRs in their current state often result in arbitrary fee charges comparable to those seen in private schools, thus the willingness to reform arbitrary fee practice and guarantee clarity and fairness in charges related to education.
The move by the administration shows that political leadership is prepared to safeguard the rights of parents and students from exploitation in the market for education services. Apart from this, this decision aims to offer some monetary support to the families that have been left with no choice but to send their children to private schools that sometimes ignore the prescribed regulations. The action also builds a precedent for the rest of the private schools in the region. Parents have welcomed this step, with the hope that other institutions will be made to adhere to rules governing conduct in the future, and stricter measures will be taken. The district administration has reaffirmed its strong/proactive position that it is ready to provide equal opportunity for students without discriminating against anybody based on their disability.
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