Mumbai: PTA fee-hike meetings to be video recorded

Representational pic

In the wake of a number of fee-hike complaints from parents of students studying in different city schools remaining unresolved, the state has made it mandatory to video-record meetings of Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), wherein they decide on the hikes.

For the record
As per the Fee Regulation Act, every school has the liberty to increase fees after an approval from the PTA executive committee. However, complaints against fee hike remain unresolved, as one group of parents may be completely unaware of the proceedings of the meetings. Even the state has faced problems in dealing with fee-hike complaints due to lack of clear information.

Principal secretary of the state school education department Nand Kumar said, "We are expected to deal with complaints at the last minute when there is no clear information about the past PTA meetings. If the meetings are recorded, they would help us get a clear picture."

While several are getting together in their fight against the hikes, some are accepting it. Disputes between the two parent groups are making it difficult to know if the hikes are introduced in consultation with the PTA or not.

Anubha Sahai from Parents of Private Schools of Maharashtra said, "We welcome the regulation. But how many schools will agree? Has state introduced any system to see that schools follow it? There is no point of having such a regulation if it is not followed by managements."

Jayant Jain, president of Forum for Fairness in Education said, "It is also important to know how PTAs are formed. Rules need to be followed while forming PTAs."