Can private schools increase fees as much as they want?
Can private schools in Bengal charge as much fees as they want? No at least as per initial observations of the Calcutta High Court.
In search of quality education, more and more middle-class parents are enrolling their children in private schools. But many of them face huge strains in fulfilling the fee requirements of the schools. Moreover, private schools do not take the permission of the state government before hiking their fees.
On May 18, the state government approached the Calcutta High Court for a ruling on private school fees.
As an initial observation, Judge Biswajit Basu said that increasing fees without any restraint is not at all desirable. “Education is not like running a sweet shop, that one shop will sell sweets for Rs 5 and another for Rs 10.”
It may be recounted here that recently some guardians of students of two well-known schools in Kolkata filed cases against the schools over arbitrary hike in fees—South Point by more than 100 per cent and Birla Bharati by 22-50 per cent for different classes, they alleged.
The next hearing is on June 5. The court’s initial ruling has provided hope to many parents.
