Chandigarh, August 11: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann announced a comprehensive end to unchecked private school fee increases after the passage of regulatory legislation in the Vidhan Sabha. The updated statutory framework brings every financial head collected by un-aided institutions under direct state oversight to enforce total financial transparency. District Regulatory Committees headed by Deputy Commissioners will now examine and regulate all fee hike proposals across nearly seven thousand eight hundred private schools in the region. Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann asserted that the move marks a decisive victory against profiteering in the education sector, ensuring that families receive robust legal safeguards against unjustified financial demands.
Outlining the state’s enforcement policy, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann affirmed that financial accountability will be ensured through independent forensic audits of school accounts. He stated that any institution found to have charged extra fees over the past three years will be legally required to refund those amounts back to the parents. Educational institutes cannot mint money in the name of education by charging fees in multiple accounts, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann declared. He maintained that penalty provisions, ranging from progressive financial fines to the ultimate cancellation of school affiliation, will guarantee that institutions operate strictly in the best interests of student welfare rather than private commercial gain.
