West Bengal is planning to take fee regulation seriously. The state's Education Minister Bratya Basu told the Assembly on Tuesday, June 21, that the Education Department is formulating a panel to address issues pertaining to fee structures in private schools, according to a report by PTI.
While the government is reluctant to interfere too much in the functioning of private schools, the Education Minister stated that West Bengal's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was concerned about the fee structures in private schools and the impact it is having on the common man. The panel being proposed by the Education Department is likely to be headed by a retired judge and will function along the lines of the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission. This commission was set up in 2017 in order to regulate private hospitals in the state. The Education Minister informed that the state cabinet had discussed the composition and functions of this commission already and soon the matter will be officially brought to the Assembly.
In March 2017, West Bengal's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had discussed the need to control the fee structure of private schools and the Education Minister at the time, Partha Chatterjee, had constituted a similar commission. However, according to a report by The Telegraph, this commission did not have much of an impact. The new commission will be built on the model of the Regulatory Commission for private hospitals, and will address complaints by parents over fee hikes in private schools. The fresh commission was proposed after an association of guardians had written to the government flagging the issue and had sought its immediate intervention.
