Maharashtra govt to set up panel to resolve issues on non-payment of fees in private schools

MUMBAI: Maharashtra minister Deepak Kesarkar on Thursday told the Legislative Assembly that a committee would be formed to resolve the issues arising out of non-payment of fees in some private schools in the state so that students do not have to face any hardships.

The School Education Minister was replying to a debate during the question hour, where he said guidelines would be framed to ensure that students are not adversely impacted. "Payment of fees for self-financed schools is mandatory. Parents have a choice which school to send their children to," Kesarkar said.

Also Read | Rs 30 crore recovered from universities for fee refunds after admission cancellation in 2022-23: UGC chief

Responding to supplementary questions, he said regulation of fees of private educational institutions is not in government's hands. Fees are charged as per the facilities provided, the minister added. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Rajesh Tope said as 25 per cent seats in self-financed schools are reserved under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the government should reimburse the schools.

Kesarkar said Rs 875 crore have been reimbursed so far by the state government, out of which Rs 425 crore were received from the Centre till last year. Referring to a question on 200 students of Lexicon International School at Wagholi in Pune being detained in the school for non-payment of fees, he said the incident took place on January 18 this year.

Also Read | Cannot bar child from taking exam mid-session due to fee non-payment: Delhi HC

There were arguments between the management of the school and parents. But no parent came forward to join the inquiry initiated by the Lonikand police station. Hence the police closed the case, he added. Replying to another question on restarting electricity connections to 9,262 government schools, the minister said the energy department will be told that the government will reimburse the electricity dues to schools. Schools are charged tariffs that are less than the residential rates, he said.