Parent-teachers’ body to move court

The All India Federation of Parent-Teachers Association plans to challenge the formation of the government-appointed Bansal committee and its recommendations on fee hikes in private and unaided schools in court.

The All India Federation of Parent-Teachers Association (AIFPTA) plans to challenge the formation of the government-appointed Bansal committee and its recommendations on fee hikes in private and unaided schools in court.

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AIFPTA will move the Bombay High Court if the state does not scrap the Committee report.

The Bansal committee was formed to keep a check on the rise in school fee, but the committee has recommended ways to hike it, AIFPTA has alleged.

Parents want the state to appoint a fresh committee with equal representation from the parents’ side.

“There is an urgent need to have guidelines set up for regulating the fees and for that a fresh committee should be formed,” said Jayant Jain, President of AIFPTA.

Jain added that the 21-member Bansal committee, chaired by Kumud Bansal, former education secretary in the Central government, had only three parent representatives.

Jain alleged that some of committee members were also the board members of private education institutions.

M.S. Deshmukh, vice-president of AIFPTA, said: “It’s now up to the government. If they scrap the committee report and form a fresh committee we have no issues.”

AIFPTA had also launched a state-wide signature campaign against the Bansal committee recommendations.

Parents had alleged that the committee’s recommendations to allow the schools to charge up to 15 per cent additional fees on the regular fee would unnecessarily escalate the fees.

The fees could also be decided as per the facilities provided by the schools, the report added.