2 STATES OF THE STATE IN REGULATING FEES OF PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

While on one hand the Government wants the private sector to play an active role in the strategic sector of education, at the same time it does not want the private sector to manipulate and indulge in profiteering. To achieve this objective the state plays the role of a regulator. But, at times, due to lose controls and corruption, the regulation becomes absolutely toothless and meaningless. In fact the regulation itself is used by the private enterprises to earn huge profits. Fee fixation committees and admission regulatory committees are the State Governments regulatory bodies that control fees and admissions of private unaided colleges. Government of Maharashtra recently announced that it is going to come out with new set of norms so as to tighten the private unaided colleges. Thus, it is a classic case of a state that on one hand wants private sector’s active participation in education and at the same time is unable to control the manipulations therein and hence wants to increase the controls including harsh provisions of imprisonment, which in turn can run the risk of discouraging private institutions to come up. This article ponders over the 2 states of the State in tackling the fee fixation issue of private unaided educational institutions.