Kriti Parashar, Research Scholar, Faculty of Law, University of Lucknow
ABSTRACT
The dilemma over fees charged by schools and its various components has time and again knocked the doors of the High Courts and the Supreme Court. This is more in the present times when a pandemic coupled with the new scheme of online education has entered the arena of private unaided schools and their regulation. On one hand, we have the aggrieved parents and the private unaided schools, and on the other hand we have the High Court’s trying to reach a reasonable solution on the issue keeping in mind the financial constraints of parents and of the expenditure of the schools. A key regulatory body which has remained spectator to this issue are the Fee Regulatory Bodies which are sufficiently empowered to provide guidelines on the issue and work along with the State Government at reaching a reasonable solution. Most of the States in the country have established a Fee Regulatory Body by one name or another, but it is discouraging to see that while in areas like electricity, telecom, infrastructure, etc. the regulatory bodies have managed the concerns of the industry, educational regulatory bodies have remained spectators to the issue waiting for the pro-active judiciary to set up and fill the regulatory lacuna left by them. This paper analyses the role, function and powers of these bodies and recognises why there is an emerging need for them to create awareness on their functioning both amongst the parents as well as the schools.
Keywords: Fees, School, Education, Regulatory, Activism.
