Andhra Pradesh Assembly passes bills to regulate school fee structure

The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Monday passed two bills aiming to regulate the school fee structure and higher educational institutions in the state. The Bills also aim to monitor educational standards in the institutions.

The two bills namely, the AP School Education and Higher Education Regulatory and Monitoring Commission Bills, together, will be setting up two commissions. These commissions, harbouring students interests at the core, will be monitoring educational institutions.

The commissions will be composed of only the eleven best dignitaries. It will be headed by a retired High Court Judge. Amongst the members, the commission will include a prominent Chartered Accountant or a person possessing a 20-year experience in the field of public finance. It will also feature 5 academicians, 2 persons having experience in administrative matters, one senior school education official of the rank of director or additional director (retired or in-service ), and one representative of a reputed educational institution in the state.

The committee will not just regulate the school fee structure, but also play a major role in monitoring admissions and teaching standards in private educational institutions. Inspections will be conducted by the committee, wherein the members will grade the respective school or education institution.

Along with the above responsibilities, the commission will also fulfill its duty of ensuring strict implementation of the Right To Education (RTE) Act. If the educational institution fails to strictly implement and go by the rules or norms prescribed under RTE, the commission will initially warn it, only to be penalised later. If the schools continue to violate the norms, then the commission will have the power to enforce the closure of the schools.

As the bill was being passed in the assembly, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy stated that schools charging fees ranging from Rs 60,000- Rs 1 Lakh, were being run by several ministers. This, the CM said, was happening due to the absence of regulatory mechanisms.

The CM also pointed at the stats, noting that the illiteracy rate of AP as per 2011 census was recorded at 33%, which was higher than the national average of 26%.

Announcing the decision, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy tweeted, “Education is not a business. It’s just a service. We making education affordable to the poor and middle-class sections. Under the guidance of retired judges, we have passed bills in the Assembly to regulate the fees and monitor the basic amenities in schools and colleges.”