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Patna,(BiharTimes): The state HRD minister, Prashant Kumar Shahi, said on Tuesday that “parents are independent to send their wards to schools in accordance with their financial capabilities and private schools are also free to charge according to their requirements.” |
 Replying to a short notice question by JD(U) MLA Manjit Kumar Singh he ruled out framing of a law to curb fees charged by private schools.
The MLA said that the private schools had hiked fees by 40 per cent and reminded that Shahi had in January 2012 pledged to bring in a law to regulate fee charged by the schools.
However, Shahi now said no state had a law that curbs fees charged by private schools. Even the Right to Education Act, 2009, does not say anything on restricting the fee charged by the private schools. If any state formulates a bill to check the fee, it will have to take the President’s approval as the central legislation did not give the mandate to states to do this in non-governmental schools.
The Act only makes it mandatory to reserve 25 per cent of seats in private schools for deprived section of the society and mentions nothing on controlling fee hike, he said.
The minister said the House needs to ponder if it could make any law for regulating fee increase in private schools and whether such legislation would be approved by the President.
Another JD(U) MLA, Ranvijay Singh, demanded that private schools should be stopped from charging exorbitantly from parents.
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