Rajasthan government will take action against private schools flouting norms: Vasudev Devnani

After protests by parents over fee hike in private schools, the minister of state for primary and secondary education, Vasudev Devnani on Wednesday said that the government is going to take strict action against schools flouting norms. Stating that private schools must arrive at a decision regarding fee hike according to the provisions of the Rajasthan Schools (Regulation of Fee) Act, 2016, Devnani also threatened to cancel the No Objection Certificate (NOC) given to schools if the rules are not followed.

“Private schools affiliated to CBSE are given a NOC by the state government, which clearly states that the school must abide by the rules of the state government. I had a word with the Director of CBSE and he has ensured that in case we find that schools are not complying with the rules and forward their name to the board, the CBSE will cancel their recognition,” Devnani said.

According to the Act, each private school in Rajasthan is required to form a 10-member committee comprising five parents and five representatives of the school, which will decide the fees every academic year. The Act says that the parents must be selected through a lottery system. However, parents said that the selection is not done through a lottery system and often, they are not even informed about the formation of the committee.

The state government has also issued a notification prohibiting any kind of commercial activity in private schools, Devnani said. “There will be no book stalls inside the school premises. The schools can prescribe textbooks affiliated to CBSE and state board, but they must notify about this at least a month in advance on their school notice board. Even after the notification, the books must be available in at least three different shops in the market,” Devnani said. Schools cannot change their uniform before five years, Devnani added.

Some private schools in the city have raised their fee by over 25 %. Parents said that the a wellknown school has raised the fee by over 30%. Devika Sharma (name changed), whose son studies in class 3, said, “Last year, I paid Rs 32,000 as the fee for six months. Now, they’ve increased it to Rs 42,000.” She said the school cited air-conditioned classrooms and smart boards as the reason behind the hike, but no such facility has been provided.

Some parents are also exploring legal options. A parent, on condition of anonymity, said, “We are consulting lawyers about filing a petition in the high court. We want the court to intervene so that the schools that have raised their fees regularly in the past few years cannot do so in the next three years.”

Members of the Congress party also protested against the fee hike by burning effigies of chief minister Vasundhara Raje and Devnani at 16 different places in the city.