Many schools yet to apply to FRC for fee fixation

Surat: A number of schools are yet to apply to the Fees Regulation Committee (FRC) for fee fixation and submit affidavits for permission in this regard. Furthermore, the education department in Surat is yet to find out the exact number of schools which are yet to approach FRC. These details came to light on Thursday during a media briefing by FRC, which is trying to take speedy action but is hamstrung due to missing data.
FRC claimed that it is supposed to look into the school fee fixation cases only when a school or a parent approaches it. If the school doesn’t come to the FRC then it has no powers. “Our area of work is limited to fixing fees and punishing a school if it collects more than the approved fees. We cannot take any action against those who have not sought permission from FRC as yet,” said Justice A M Dave, chairman of Surat FRC. Dave is former principal and district judge and currently a judge at the consumer court in Surat.

Asked about the number of schools which have not applied to FRC as yet, U N Rathod, district education officer, could not give a clear answer. Rathod said, “We are yet to find out the exact number of schools which have not approached FRC. We have to do a lot of counting to prepare that data.” FRC had set deadline for a school to apply to get fee approval. Some schools which had approached Supreme Court are yet to apply to FRC while a number of other schools did not bother at all.

FRC on Thursday announced that for 2017-18 a total of 1,782 schools had submitted affidavits that they collect fees within the permissible limits announced by the state government. Some 123 schools had applied with the request to collect higher fees than the fixed limits. Of the 123 applications, FRC disposed of 55 applications while 68 are pending.

“In the first round, FRC has ordered 58 schools to reduce their fees and the reduction amounts to more than Rs 10,000. We are also trying to finalize the fees for remaining schools in the next round,” said Justice Dave.
For 2018-19, a total of 1,383 schools had submitted affidavits claiming that they are collecting fees within the permissible limits and of these 582 schools were issued orders. A total of 117 schools have sought permission to collect higher fees than the fixed limits and orders to collect provisional fees were issued to 91 schools.
“The maximum reduction in fees in this round is up to Rs 37,325. We have also levied penalty of Rs 5,000 on 51 schools who had submitted affidavits after the deadline,” said Rupin Pachhigar, chartered accountant.
FRC also comprises of Amroli College principal K M Chavda, educationist Jagdish Chavda and architect Prashant Desai.
by Yagnesh Bharat Mehta via Surat News, Latest Surat News Headlines & Live Updates - Times of India