State to take action against schools violating MEIR Act

In response to the direction of the Bombay High Court (HC) which allowed schools that have declared the fees for the academic year 2020-21 after duly following the process of Fee Regulating Authority (FRA) before May 8, 2020 to continue to charge 2020-21 fees, parents of students studying in private-unaided schools have demanded the state to form a committee to look into increased fees and grant relief. The court has also directed the state to address complaints of parents or take suo moto action against schools that have violated the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fee) Act, 2011.

On Monday, the Bombay HC passed an order on the matter of fee hike initiated by privateunaided schools as parents had opposed stating they are unable to pay increased fees due to financial constraints on account of the Covid-19 pandemic. The court said, "The Government Resolution (GR) dated May 8, 2020 is only prospective in nature and cannot apply to schools which have already fixed or declared their fee for the academic year 2020-2021 where such fees are duly accepted in terms of the MEIR 2011 Act as amended and/or has been acted upon before the GR dated May 8, 2020."

Jayant Jain, president of Forum for Fairness in Education (FFE), a nongovernmental organisation (NGO), said, "The court order has not provided any relief to parents. We had demanded 50 per cent reduction in school fees for the academic year 2020-21 as schools have shifted to online education where facilities such as libraries, canteens, playgrounds, laboratories, and bus services are not being used."