Private schools stopped from enhancing ‘any kind of fee’

SRINAGAR — The Committee for Fixation and Regulation of Fee of Private Schools (FFRC) on Friday asked private schools of Jammu and Kashmir not to enhance any kind of fee for the ongoing academic session.

The FFRC chairperson, Muzaffar Hussain Attar in an order said that it has decided that all the private schools functioning in Kashmir division and winter zone of Jammu division shall not enhance any amount of fee for the current academic session.

Attar said that the charges like tuition fee, annual fee, bus fee and any other kind of fee during the academic session 2020-21 shall not be hiked or enhanced and those schools affiliated with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for academic session 2021-22.

He said, “All the schools are directed to strictly obey the orders of the Committee.”

Attar said that the two subsequent lockdowns in 2019 and 2020 respectively have resulted in economic inactivity and some sections of people lost jobs and most of peoples’ income was substantially reduced. It had become difficult for most of people even to have bare necessities of life.

Meanwhile, in another order of FFRC, the Committee revoked the order that was allowing the private schools to hike fee by six percent annually.

In 2019, the FFRC had allowed the private schools to charge the annual fee by six percent.

“The orders of annual hike of fee by six percent is hereby rescinded and revoked forthwith,” Attar said.

Attar said that the private schools shall not make any hike on their own like they were charging the fee by six percent as provided in order issued in January 2019.

The committee said that it would neither be fair, nor reasonable, nor just to allow a universal hike of fee in all the schools, without ascertaining the actual factual position and requirement of each individual school. “Otherwise, also is tantamount to abdication of responsibility by the committee,” reads the order.