Maharashtra government must audit private schools: Online petition

MUMBAI: Parents of more than 1,000 students have signed an online petition, demanding that the government audit private schools in the state for operations and finances. Parents and school managements have been locked in fee-related disputes since the start of the school shutdown in March.
Started by a parent from Thane, Anubha Sahai, the petition demands that the government audit all schools which charge a fee of over Rs 30,000 annually."Most schools are profiteering and charging exorbitant fees from parents every year. They are hiking fees every year without giving any proper justification. During this pandemic too they are charging fees by claiming that they have to pay salaries to teachers even when they have huge surplus," said Sahai.
The petition was signed by 1,160 people by Wednesday evening. The parents claim that the schools are overcharging even when operations are shut. "Some schools are also charging transport fees and various other fees under different heads for different activities when these activities are not even being conducted. We are ready to pay fees for meeting expenses incurred on payment of salaries to teachers but we also want them to share the balance sheet," she added.
In the lockdown months, despite assurances from the government to help parents, several parents have complained to the state education department about schools threatening them to discontinue e-learning classes in case of non-payment.
Educational institutions have, on the other hand, cited reasons of payment of salaries to their teachers, increased expenditure they anticipate after the lockdown to meet the sanitisation and social distancing needs for collection and hiking of fees for the current academic year.