Rajkot: Provisional fee structure for nearly 4,000 self-financed schools of Saurashtra is expected to be finalized within a week.Nearly 194 schools of 10 districts have sought more fees than the limited prescribed under the Gujarat Self-financed Schools (Regulation of fees) Act 2017. Education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, in his recent visit to Rajkot, announced at a function that the school fee structure of Rajkot zone will be declared soon.The highest number of schools — 66 — that have sought hike in fees are in Rajkot followed by 43 in Jamnagar. According to the sources, out of total 194 schools, nearly half of them have sought permission to allow them to collect more than Rs 50,000 fees per year. These included fees for primary, secondary and higher secondary.A member of fee regulation committee, Rajkot zone, Dharmendara Mehta said, “Whichever school wants to collect fees more than the prescribed limit under the law have to submit balance sheets of previous years, details of teachers and staff, building, expenditure, extra activities done by school and special highlights.”The Fee Regulation Committee (FRC), Rajkot, under the chairmanship of former high court judge R D Kothari has completed the hearing of 190 schools, while four schools have been given time to submit more documents. Ten districts except Kutch and Botad falls under the jurisdiction of Rajkot FRC.Nearly 4,358 schools have filed affidavits justifying reasonable rise which is under prescribed limit. The upper ceiling of fee for primary school is Rs 15,000, Rs 20,000 for secondary school and Rs 30,000 for high secondary school prescribed under the law. The definition of reasonable is not fixed.An FRC member said, “If a school is charging Rs 4,000 and wants to rise fees by Rs 1,000 in percentage term, it’s 25% hike. But in monetary terms the school may find this rise reasonable considering their expenses.

Stay updated with all the Latest Rajkot headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.