Private Schools in Gujarat Demand a Fee Hike of Rs 5,000

The Gujarat Rajya Shala Sanchalak Mandal, an association of private school administrations from Gujarat, has demanded that the state education department revise their minimum annual fee slab. As reported by the Times of India, the education department has not revised the minimum fee slabs since 2017. Currently, the minimum fixed fee structure of private schools stands at Rs 15,000 for primary classes and Rs 25,000 for secondary and higher classes. If the private schools wish to charge more than this limit then they need to seek permission from the fee regulatory committee by justifying the increased fee.

The Gujarat Rajya Shala Sanchalak Mandal demands that the minimum fee slab for primary school fees should be increased to Rs 20,000, for secondary school it should be Rs 25,000, and for higher secondary school the fees must be bumped to Rs 35,000.

Following this demand, the Gujarat education department has set up an eight-member fee revision committee to revise the base annual fees. Reportedly the committee has received around 150 suggestions from parents and school administrations. The committee will submit its report and recommendations to the government about the fee hike by December 30.

In response to this demand by private schools association, Vali Swaraj Manch, an Ahembadbad-based parents’ association, wrote to the state education department arguing that instead of a minimum fee limit, the government should announce a maximum fee limit that a school could charge under the Gujarat Self-Financed School (Regulation of Fees) Act, 2017.

Vali Swaraj Manch president Amit Panchal explained their position to The Indian Express and said, “After the implementation of Gujarat Self-Financed School (Regulation of Fees) Act, many schools benefitted from the minimum limit set in it. Earlier, schools that were charging annual fees between Rs 7,000 and Rs 11,000 for students in classes I to VIII, increased the fee directly to Rs 15,000.”

He added, “There is no need to fix the lower limit but fix the upper limit. The government has all the data on school expenses, so, it should fix the upper limit. If the lower limit is increased, then schools will again increase fees.”