Addressing fee fixation in schools
Fee fixation in schools has been quite a daunting task for the authorities here as many private schools have been increasing the fee without taking the major stakeholders that is the parents on board.
In Jammu and Kashmir the Fee Fixation and Regulation Committee (FFRC) is responsible for regulating the fee structure of private schools in the region. Even though the private schools are required to submit their proposed fee structure to the FFRC for approval, many a times the rules are violated.
Importantly, the FFRC ensures that schools adhere to the approved fee structure and do not impose any unjustified financial burden on parents. However, in most of the cases the issue of fee hike creates ripples as the parents always highlight the hike as unjustified.
Since the issue of regulating fee in private schools is prevalent across the country, the Union Territory of Delhi last week passed the School Fee Regulation Bill, 2025, which gives veto power to parents in decisions regarding fee hikes, ensuring that school managements cannot unilaterally impose fee increases.
The bill says that even if a single parent member disagrees with the fee hike by private schools, the proposal for fee hike will not be approved. The parents will have veto power, and the management cannot impose its decision unilaterally.
The bill has not curtailed the schools rights in no way as the approved fee hike per annum as approved by the fixation committee has been allowed by the government.
According to the provisions of the Delhi School Education Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees Bill, 2025, schools found arbitrarily hiking fees could face penalties ranging from fines to losing their right to propose fee revisions in the future.
The Bill that has been approved also mandates the formation of three committees to oversee the fee regulation process — one each at the school level, district level and a higher-level Revision Committee, which will act as the final authority in fee-related disputes.
Though the bill has been passed just few days back, it can prove pivotal for other regions of the country as many states have been facing the problem of regulating fee in private schools.
This type of regulation can also be worked out in Jammu and Kashmir as many a times such situation arises where parents and school managements are at logger heads over the fee hike issue.
The bill passed and implemented in Delhi cannot serve to be an ideal solution to the problems faced by the school management and the parents in Kashmir, but a same type of regulation can help to ease out the problems at all levels.
