BOMBAY, 6 July — The cash-strapped Maharashtra government’s move to substantially hike children’s fees in English medium schools has drawn flak from legislators of the ruling coalition in the state.
Legislators from the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Republican Party and several other parties that are part of the ruling Democratic Front met with the education minister to press for a withdrawal of the fee hike. The increase in school fees is as much as 40 times for students whose parents have higher incomes.
State government sources said there is now a move to "rationalize" the hike. This means parents in highest income brackets may have to pay lower fees.
While earlier students from Grade five to 10 paid between five rupees and 10 rupees as monthly fees in English medium schools, they now have to pay as much as 400 rupees if their parents have annual incomes in excess of 300,000 rupees per year. Students whose parents earn below 50,000 rupees annually continue to pay the old fees.
Students whose parents earn between 50,000 rupees and 100,000 rupees are now paying 100 rupees per month. Those in the 100,000 to 200,000 rupees bracket pay 200 rupees per month and parents in the 200,000 rupees to 300,000 rupees slot pay 300 rupees per month.
The maximum fees are 400 rupees per child for parents above this bracket. The proposals were mooted last year, but were withdrawn after protests from teachers and parents’ organizations. The present hikes apply only too schools offering education in English. Marathi medium schools are exempt from the new fee structure.
Though a number of schools, particularly those run by the minority Catholic Church, strongly protested the move, it was uniformly implemented.
