Mahesh Kapasi: There is no need to have government cell to monitor fee structure in private schools as there is annual audit and income tax returns are filed by all private schools. And furthermore, an increase in school fee is not without any basis, it requires sending intimation to appropriate authorities and there are enough guidelines for an increase in school fee under Education Act etc. The reasons for school fee increase are questionable and monitor by authorities -inspection of financial affairs by them etc. Indirectly there is already a government cell (education Department) to monitor financial affairs of private schools. Moreover, there is also a representative of Education Department in Managing Committee of such schools. So where is the need of an independent another government cell to monitor fee structure in private schools?

It should be remembered that education now is fundamental right but how many children get proper and right education. One reason is dearth of good schools. To open private good schools one hurdle is raising funds -as there are so many restrictions by the authorities even for private schools. Then there are tax problems like property tax on school buildings. All school buildings including unaided but recognized schools must be exempted from property tax. Education is a national mission. Therefore, it is logical to exempt all buildings used for this purpose from property tax and other similar levies. These funds can be used for providing better amenities and facilities for school children.

Sanjeev K Mehta: There is not only a need of Government cell to monitor fee structure in private schools but also to regulate the functioning and activities of the private schools. Teaching, once considered to be a noble service, has become a business today. Today the aspirants are more than the seats available in the schools. Taking advantage of the situation schools collect the fee arbitrarily. Private schools not only charge hefty tuition fee but also collect various other unjustifiable fees. And the agony is that, in the absence of such a monitoring cell, no one can argue with the school for fear of unnecessary harassment or rustication of the child. Most of the schools collect the half yearly or yearly fee in advance which causes great hardship to the transferee parents who withdraw their children from the school as the schools never refund the full fee. At the time of fresh admissions, schools seem more of a profit making company than an educational institution. They collect any amount in the name of registration fee, though there is no guarantee of admission. For only a few seats they issue as many registration forms as they can and collect a heavy amount in the name of registration fee. To bring about the consistency and uniformity in the fee and functioning of the various schools there must be a regulatory authority in the field of education. Just as TRAI, IRDA, SEBI, etc a School Regulatory Authority is the need of the hour.

Jaskaran Singh DhamiThe general response to the question whether there should be a govt cell to monitor fee structure in private school will be in affirmative but I have my grave reservations about it. Why? In India, all the agencies or cells (let's eschew names) which have been established to serve as watchdogs have failed dismally. These watchdogs soon become vulnerable to petty (and fatty) kickbacks and start wagging their tails to the whistles of the very persons or institutions which they are supposed to keep an eye on. If one monitoring cell becomes corrupt, should govt then appoint another cell to monitor earlier cell and than one more agency to check the second one...and so on? This will lead to proverbial vicious circle.

It is an open secret that private schools are making big holes in the pockets of people in the form of exorbitant fee. I ask, why do people make beelines for private schools? Simply, because govt schools have failed to come up to the expectations of people. The standard of education in most of these schools is pathetic and the state of infrastructure appalling. People are ready to pay through their nose rather than sending their wards to these so called Sarkari Schools.

If govt schools are run the way these schools are and more schools are opened and equipped with competent staff and state-of-the-art infrastructure, private schools will automatically fall in line. The need is to find the root cause of the problem and address it astutely rather than opting for band-aid solutions.

If we still feel the need to monitor fee structure of private schools, why can't this additional responsibility be given to already existing govt educational organizations like CBSE, ICSE and State School Education Boards or other boards granting these schools affiliation and recognition? Why an exclusive cell to burden the already over burdened exchequer? And, is it only the fee structure that needs to be monitored? What about host of other private irregularities in these private schools?

Subha Nandini: Education is an essential part of our lives. It makes our lives meaningful and interesting. Everybody loves reading, writing and arithmetic. In these days computer science education has got a prominent place. The private schools charge high fees in the name of computer education. Some private schools charge Rs 600 per month whereas in the government schools this fee is Rs 1,600 for one year. As a result a large number of children who do not get admissions in the government schools are deprived of computer education. Their parents cannot send them to private schools.

Setting up of a special cell by the government to monitor fees in private institutions has become necessary. It will bring uniformity in the fee structure and the parents will not grumble. In absence of proper guidelines to the private institutions they begin charging fees as per their whims. Excuses given are rising cost of living etc. Likewise the private schools should be monitored in other areas like appointment of teachers too. Generally it is seen that teachers are paid very poorly in the private schools.

Sushmita Shrivastava: There is little doubt that the fees of private schools are rising unchecked. The school fees are nightmares to many, and the common people cannot think of sending their kids to the private schools, due to which the children of the poor remain at a definite disadvantage. But there are two sides to the coin. The managements of the schools argue that they have to put up buildings, pay hefty salary to teachers and other staff and provide infrastructure. So money is needed. Only the parents can shell out the funds. While education for all remains a chimera enshrined in the Directive Principles of State Policy, the arbitrary fee hikes by private schools are pushing the right to education out of the reach of all. Plagued by the frequent fee hikes and with no forum to appeal to for redressal, parents of children feel totally helpless. Therefore some sort of government control is required to bring the errant schools to book. Besides the fee charged by many schools is not commensurate with the facilities provided by them. Many schools also violate the regulations governing collections and use of funds. A government cell to monitor fee structure in private schools is, therefore, the need of the hour.

Lijo Joseph: In my opinion, a government cell should be present to monitor the fee structure in private schools, as this would not only ensure quality education for the masses at affordable cost, but also encourage the poorer sections of the society to educate their children. The government should establish a cell that provides for concession in the ever-increasing fees charged by the private institutions, at least for the masses who genuinely need it. This is important because every single person in the country is a resource and they need to be educated, groomed and developed in order to ensure a better future for India as a whole. It's a fact that the private institutions, in the name of providing education are running good business and making huge money. It's true that they have the right to charge for their services, but not such that the masses have to think a billion times before getting their children educated. Children of today are the future of tomorrow. So, the presence of a government cell in private institutes will hopefully be helpful in imparting education in such a way that it is not a burden on the masses and also very well ensuring that the institutes run privately do not run into loss.

`Because for a better India, education is a must, and in the government alone, can people put their trust, and don't you think making business out of education is not just'

Subhash: Government-cell has become necessity to monitor fee-structure in private schools because of various reasons. Firstly education in private schools has become a necessity either because of inadequacy of government-schools in many areas, or their poor-most standard in areas where government-schools find it hard to get students enrolled. (There was a school in Delhi registered in Limca Book of Records for having minimum number of students i.e. just one that too son of the peon in that school). Such reasons force people of every class including from lower-middle class also to send their children in private schools. Therefore a government-cell is necessary to take care of private schools not turning into education-shops for minting money at cost of helpless public.

Secondly there has been a trend of creating a privileged class right from nursery-level where schools have been opened in metro-cities with all types of comfort including centralised air-conditioning for studies. Even a privileged school heavily funded by Union Government exists in New Delhi (Sanskriti School) for admitting children exclusively from privileged society of IAS officers, judges, ministers and other most influential persons. Government-cell monitoring fee-structure of private schools can expose allowing creation of a class-distinction right from nursery-level. If this government-cell is able to control fees-structure of such super-luxurious schools, then intelligent and deserving children of non-affording families may also find education in such luxurious comfort-schools checking an unhealthy trend of creating class-distinction even at stage of nursery-education.

RJ Khurana: No, it will not help. The only way the government can moderate the fee structures of private schools is to provide stiff competition by running well-equipped and well-staffed schools that will rank above the best in the private market. Presently the government schools are in a shambles. Poor quality of faculty, rampant absenteeism and indiscipline, dilapidated buildings, absence of basic amenities like furniture, toilets and medical help and lack of sports and extra-curricular activities in government schools have forced the parents to make a bee-line for private schools for admitting their wards at whatever fees they may have to pay even though it may mean selling their shirts and going on hungry stomachs.

Manisha Gupta: Yes, that'll do a whole lot of good to bridge the "monetary divide" in the education system. We propagate the "right to education", while at the same time there are schools making sure this right be limited to those with tones of money to spare for educating the child.

Education, in India today, has become a lucrative business. Government should intervene to make education in good schools affordable. Certain norms and regulations are a need of the hour to promote education only on the basis of 'intellectual capacity' of the student and not on the 'monetary capacity' of the parent!

Krishna Chander Mouli: Ideally in a republican democracy barring defence, finances, internal security (home), external affairs, fiscal policy, basic heavy industry and foreign trade perhaps no other field should be under direct government control. Some essential services can at the most be under public sector with full autonomy, govt only issuing broad guidelines. Remaining service and consumer sector can be in private hands with routine checks and balances.

Idealism apart the ground realities however have been very disgusting. Whichever field has been left out of government control large-scale exploitation and corrupt practices have become an essential input of the management and govt. had to intervene to neutralise and normalise often the embarrassing situations. Transport is one example.

Education is the latest addition. Constitutionally education is under state list. But with Govt of India, UNICEF and World Bank funded literacy programmes and Sarva Sikhsa Abhiyan etc all over the country education is no more a state subject alone. Centre is equally responsible for ensuring proper school education to its children. But experience shows that a number of private school educational institutions - specially the English medium ones- have been fleecing the parents/guardians with exorbitant fees in the name of quality education and various academic activities supposedly organised for the over all personality development of the child. Though at the end of the session at the time of leaving the school the student may be just above average. This simply means the exorbitant fees collected ostensibly for academic quality has been misused on some other account like building, infrastructure, renovation or salaries of teachers. Despite an unprecedented hike in the fees and other unauthorised unreceipted collections by the school education institutions the quality remains poor or at the most above average while the robbery of gullible parents/guardians continues.

Till school education and higher education institutions do not get accustomed to conduct themselves properly and plan in terms of more academic inputs qualitatively for the benefit of the students there should be a separate commission type of organisation to monitor and regulate the fees structure of the school educational institutions so that such institutions do not take liberties without appropriate control over their dealings.

Syed Zia Ul Hasan Naqvi: We often hear hacked off parents whining about the high fees, which the private schools are charging in their schools from their students. But we toy with the matter and don't take it seriously. It seems government is also insouciant on this issue that's why this malpractice is burgeoning in most of the schools. These schools are not only charging high fees from the students but also minting money by charging in different heads, like building development fund, school social activities and general fines etc.

Being a welfare state it is incumbent upon our government to form its cell to monitor fee structure in private schools it is necessary that their should be uniformity and rationality in the fees structure of private schools whose standard is alike.

In case, if there will be no government cell for monitoring the fees structure of private schools then these private schools will go on exploiting the public in the name of fees as they are doing now by charging high fees and by taking money on different heads.

RK Kutty: If the private schools are aided, then, surely, there should be a Govt cell to monitor the fee structure. Whereas, most of the private/ management schools/institutions are un-aided. In such cases, they are self-financing and, therefore, they hold every right to have their own fee structure, provided the parents of such schools do not make hue and cry on over-charging when compared with some other similar schools. In most of cases, the parents are happy to pay whatever fees these private schools charge, as for them to get an admission in certain reputed, well established schools itself is like dream come true. Most of the parents want their wards to study there only, irrespective of the fact it is quite taxing to their pockets. But when the children excel in their studies and bring laurels, they forget all the pangs of paying heavy fees/donations etc.

Of course, any democratic government holds the responsibility to see that not only the children of privileged classes get good education in reputed schools, but also the ones in the lower strata of society as well. That is the very concept on which government is persistently after the reservation policy. Now that when we see even after the Supreme Court gave the go ahead for 27% reservation in admissions for the OBC in reputed Management Institutions, the Calcutta High Court has stayed the operation of that reservation in the IIM Kolkata, based on another petition. In a way this whole mess in our education policy, the governmental control in so far as ensuring social justice to all, the better alternate option open for the government is to consider education to all under the direct control of government. If they are not in a position to do that `in a way they miserably failed in discharging their constitutional responsibility, therefore, those private, management run educational institutions flourished or are flourishing throughout the country.

Now that when government wants to exercise control, the private/management run schools/institutions which are deeply entrenched and have gained a name, fame and glory for themselves, interference of government by way of monitoring fees charged by them, or forcing into their throats the much averred reservation policy, what one really witnesses is social tension and the total disruption or rather paralyzing of an otherwise viable option to produce excellence at an asking but that may be a bit taxing for many amongst the poor, marginalized.

In any case, forcing social justice, without bearing its burden and that too through private/management sectors which have carved a niche for themselves in education or any other service sector, can only cripple the prevalent system that came into force when the responsible ones failed in their responsibility. Let us, therefore, have a holistic approach in such sensitive matters.

Dr Visal A Khan: To monitor private schools fee structure, our idea is to stop corruption thus defined, we can now face the question: "Are Indian private schools basically corrupt?" This means that there must be a method of measuring the level of corruption in India against other countries and other races and then finding out whether others tend to be more corrupt than we are. Fortunately, there is an NGO Transparency International based in Berlin, which has come up with the Corruption Perception Index. It ranks countries according to the level of corruption as assessed by those who do business with that country. Last year, out of the 85 countries listed by the Transparency International, India's rank was 66. This year, the Transparency International has ranked 99 countries and our rank is 73. One can interpret this rank either optimistically or pessimistically. Pessimists may point out that our rank has gone down from 66 to 73. That means 72 countries are less corrupt than India whereas last year 65 countries were less corrupt than we were. On the other hand, if you look from the bottom, last year, 19 countries were perceived to be more corrupt than we are and this year, 27 countries are more corrupt than we are. So in a way, our position might have marginally improved.

Vigilance sleuths had raided SDP Senior Secondary School, Hazoori Road, on Thursday as it was brought to the notice of Vigilance officials by Mr Suresh Gupta, president, Ludhiana Sewa Sangh, that the school management was charging more fee than fixed for admissions. It is a private aided school and gets 95 per cent aid from the government. The sangh had filed a writ petition in the high court against the practice of private aided schools of charging excess fee, and the high court, in its decision on December 8, 1999, had given directions to these schools to charge a fixed amount of fee. Regretfully, however, the private schools have not adhered to the decision of high court. The sangh has taken upon itself to help the common people who are fleeced by the school authorities. In this connection, the Vigilance Department was informed by sangh members on January 28 that SD Girls Senior Secondary School, Trunk Bazaar, had been charging excess fee.

Vigilance sleuths raided the school and irregularities worth of lakhs were found. Again, powerful members of the management had managed to get off the hook due to political pressure. Incensed members of the management of the school had got registered a false FIR against the sangh members on January 30 at Division No 3. If the politicians help corruption what the govt. cell means. Instead in the coming election we must tender our votes in favour of honest candidates to form honest Government to root out corruption, automatically fee structure of schools will improve.

Vaishakh Kurup: Today in this fast-changing world, where everything is technically advanced and modern, we need to be perfect in any field we go and also due to the stiff competition prevailing among us, we need to get the right training from our childhood.

After our home it is the school from where we learn the basics of everything from studies to sports to living in the world.

To make a huge building the makers make the base as strong as possible. Likewise it is necessary for us to make our base strong in order to achieve greater heights in the future.

So all the people want to put their children in the best schools. Mostly these types of schools are private which promise good education. But, the problem arising is fee. The fees charged here are much more than those charged by the government schools.

Not only this, the private schools keep on increasing the fees every year on one reason or the other. Hence in order to have check on them, the government should set up a special cell.

The cell should study why the fees have been raised.