Madhya Pradesh: Loophole In Fee Law Lets Schools Charge At Will

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Thousands of private schools in Madhya Pradesh are now exempt from MP Private Schools Fee Regulation Act, 2017, thanks to a new directive that allows them to self-declare compliance.

There are around 35,400 private schools in the state. Of these, estimates suggest nearly 16,000 may now claim exemption from the Act after the Directorate of Public Instruction issued an order on July 15.

According to the order, any school charging less than Rs 25,000 per student per year will be exempt from all provisions of the Act. These schools must only upload an affidavit on a Rs 500 stamp paper, stating that none of their classes charge more than Rs 25,000 annually. No mechanism has been laid down to verify these claims.

The Fee Regulation Act, brought in to curb profiteering by private schools, mandated all institutions to submit audited accounts to a district-level committee. Schools were not allowed to raise fees if their income exceeded expenditure by more than 15%, and even then, the annual hike could not cross 15%.

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The law was aimed at ensuring that parents weren't burdened with unjustified fee hikes and that schools remained non-profit institutions.

Earlier this month, the Act was used to order St. John’s Senior Secondary School in Damoh to refund Rs 6.75 crore collected in excess of the permitted fee structure. Similar action was taken by district collectors in Jabalpur and Bhind, where schools were penalised for forcing parents to buy costly books from select outlets.

The Act also included regulations such as uniforms not to be changed more than once in three years and no compulsion on parents to buy books, notebooks, uniforms, shoes etc. from specific shops

Now, any school can bypass all these rules simply by declaring their annual fee is below Rs 25,000. The deadline to file the affidavit is August 8.

An escape route

General secretary of MP Paalak Mahasangh, Prabodh Pandya said, “This amendment will allow thousands of schools to loot parents. Lakhs of students will be affected. It will defeat the very purpose of the Act. It will be a convenient escape route for school managements.”