Govt to regulate school fees soon

However, it can come into force from the next year only since admissions have already concluded for the present academic year and schools will commence the fresh academic session from June 12.

Hyderabad: In a move to address the growing parental outcry over exorbitant fee hikes by private school managements every year, the State government will soon establish a school fee regulatory committee.

This initiative, being modelled after the Telangana Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee (TAFRC) for professional programmes, is aimed at bringing in a systematic approach to school fee regulation besides ensuring quality education remains accessible to everyone.

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The government is working on bringing in an Act to regulate private school fees.

However, it can come into force from the next year only since admissions have already concluded for the present academic year and schools will commence the fresh academic session from June 12.

“We will bring an Act to regulate the fees in private schools. The new regulations may not be implemented this year but will be enforced from the next academic session 2025-26,” Principal Secretary to Government (Education Department) Burra Venkatesham said.

The TAFRC headed by a retired judge has been fixing the fee structure for the private colleges offering professional programmes once every three years.

This is being done after scrutinising colleges’ income and expenditure receipts, audited balance sheets, requirements for developmental needs, and expenditures incurred on salaries and infrastructure among other details.

The Education Department is also planning a similar committee that will arrive at a fee structure after considering the schools’ finances, expenditures, and facilities provided to students.

The initiative is expected to bring some relief to parents, who have been struggling with the escalating cost of education in private schools every year.

Some private schools have been enhancing fees between 10 per cent and 30 per cent every academic year. Earlier, schools were empowered to prescribe fee a structure for different classes via a governing body comprising the president of the school, principal, teaching staff representative, parents-teachers association president and a mother among parents nominated by the DEO.

he governing body was asked to consider the school’s expenditures involving staff salaries, building rent and maintenance, classroom needs, purchase of books, contribution towards educational CESS etc., to fix the fee for the academic year.