Exorbitant Fee Row: Complaints against two more private schools

Days after the Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK) issued a suspension notice against two private schools here the Fee Fixation Committee (FFC) Tuesday said they have received fresh complaints against some more private schools for charging exorbitant fee in violation of its directives.
Chairman of FFC, Justice (Retd) Hakim Imtiyaz Hussain said the committee has received some new complaints against private schools for violating its recommended fee structure.
Hussain said FFC has received complaints from the parents of students enrolled in Minto Circle School, Srinagar who are ‘violating’ the FFC norms by charging exorbitant fee from them.
Meanwhile another member of FFC wishing anonymity told Kashmir Post that it has received a complaint from the parents against Linton Hall School, Rajbagh for the same issue.
According to FFC, they have recommended Rs 1200 for Linton Hall School, Rajbagh but in violation of norms the school is charging Rs 1350 per month.
When asked about the recent suspension orders to RP School Mallabagh and Green Valley Educational Institute, Ellahibagh, Hussain said, “We had informed both the school authorities to charge only recommended fee, but they did not adhere to that. The complaints of those schools were received by FFC and DSEK.”
The parents of various schools told Kashmir Post that they want to register complaints against the private schools who violate the norms of FFC but they are unaware of the process to do so. The parents said they want to know whether they can file complaints online.
However, the chairman of FFC blamed the parents for not filing complaints against those schools who are violating FFC guidelines. “We cannot act against any school till we have a genuine complaint or proof against it. In today’s meeting we have told our Chief Education Officers (CEO) to conduct inspection of all schools who are violating the FFC norms,” FFC chairman said.
Replying to a query he said, “All the private schools are violating the norms but only those are caught and highlighted against whom the complaints have been filed by the parents. Parents fear reprisal but we assure them their complaints are kept confidential.”
FFC Chairman added that they have regulated the tuition fee structure of various prominent schools which includes DPS Srinagar, Presentation Convent, Mallinson and Tyndale Biscoe School, Burn Hall School and many other schools.
He said the missionary schools like Biscoe and Mallinson charge Rs 35,000 as admission fee and for the whole year they charge Rs 85,000 which includes tuition fee, transport fee and other charges as well.
“RP School or Green Valley cannot be compared with DPS Srinagar because the Supreme Court in its guidelines had mentioned that the school with more facilities can charge accordingly,” Hussain said.
He further said that for RP School FFC has recommended Rs 1370 as monthly tuition fee but they are charging Rs 1900 which is a violation of FFC guidelines.
“Similarly, Green Valley Educational Institute has a good amount of surplus money and that is why we told them that why they are charging more than what FFC has recommended,” he added.