15% of fee collected by Private schools to be kept reserved as development fund
In a new development, the Fee Fixation and Regulation Committee (FFRC) for the private schools, has ordered that the 15 percent of the fee charged from the students should be kept reserved as development funds for the schools.
The move comes after the private schools justified the annual hike in the fee charged from the students saying that the schools need to develop and upgrade the infrastructure of the school for which annual hike was inevitable.
One of the reasons provided by management of private schools for seeking hike in fee structure was the payment of annual increment and annual hike in pay scale of employees both teaching and non-teaching.
“The school management will open an account in a scheduled Bank separately for development funds, which may be up to 15 percent. The school management will maintain a separate record in respect of the development fund,” the FFRC order reads.
An official in FFRC said the school had misinterpreted the order and were mulling to charge 15 percent extra fee to keep it reserved it as development fund.”But the order clearly says that 15 percent should be managed from the existing fee charged from the students and should be kept reserved at development fund,” administrative officer FFRC, Nazir Ahmad told Greater Kashmir.
“The 15 percent development has not be a burden on the parents of the students but should be extracted from the existing fee structure of the schools,” he said.
Notably, the FFRC in its order has also stated that the children who are already studying in the school have made huge financial contributions by paying one time admission fee and annual fee for years together, which resulted in development of infrastructure.
“These students cannot be further burdened by asking them to pay same annual fee, which will be fixed in respect of those students who seek admission in the school for the first time,” the order reads.
The order reads that the fresh entrants get the advantage of development of educational facilities and infrastructural facilities, for which students who are already studying in the school have made huge financial contributions.
“In this back-drop, the fresh entrants shall have to be saddled with responsibility of paying different annual fee for the first year of their admission in the school and in subsequent years they will pay same annual fee which is being fixed and regulated in respect of students who are already studying in the school,” the order reads.
Chairman Private School Association J&K (PSAJK) G N Var said besides regulating the fee in private schools should also regulate the academics in the schools.
“To keep development funds reserved for the schools is in line with Supreme Court directions. The SC directions say that the private schools can have 15 percent surplus to meet out the expenses and development fund,” G N Var said.
He said the emphasis should be to monitor the quality of education, saying that the fee structure can be managed by the school by increasing the number of students in each class.
“When a school increases the number of students in a class and on the other hand reduces the fee, it will obviously have a direct impact on the quality of education,” Var said.
