Huge Leap! Assam Assembly passes bill to regulate fees of private schools

Guwahati, April 7: In a series to determine the fee structure of private schools, the Assam Assembly unanimously passed a bill to regulate fees charged by private schools and revise their fee structures with penalties of up to Rs 10 lakh and withdrawal of registration for violators.

 

Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami announced the passage of the The Assam Non-Government Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fees) Bill, 2018 in the House after a brief discussion over some amendments brought in by opposition MLAs.

As per the bill, the government shall set up one or more Fee Regulatory Committees to determine the fee structure for any standard or course of study in any non-government schools imparting education in primary, middle, secondary and higher secondary level.

The Committee headed to take the decision shall recommend maximum limits of fees to be charged by different categories of non-government educational institutions every year before starting of the academic session. The bill also said that the government will form a Fee Revision Committee to revise the orders already passed by the Fee Regulatory Committee.

The Fee Revision Committee will be headed by a chairperson, who will be a retired judge of a high court and will be nominated by the government. Regarding violations, the bill said, in addition to refund twice the amount of fee to the parents of the students, the institute management shall pay a fine up to Rs five lakh for first contravention and up to Rs 10 lakh for the second contravention.

In case of third and subsequent contraventions, the registration or affiliation or NOC will be cancelled by the authorities on the recommendation of the Fee Regulatory Committee.