With most of the schools being affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) or Indian Council for Secondary Education (ICSE), the state government can offer little help, as it has no administrative control over these institutes.
The school education department of the state government is keen to regulate the affairs of these schools, be it the fees hikes or other matters, but says that the Central government is unwilling to help them in this regard.
“Since education is on the Concurrent List, we have to take permission from the Centre before we can bring about a change in the law governing their activities and have a say in their administration,” said state School Education Minister Partho De.
“We had prepared a report and sent it to New Delhi a year ago. But even after a year we have got no response from the Central government,” he said.
Last month Pratt Memorial, a reputed school in the city, raised its annual fees by Rs 10,000 for the ensuing academic session. This sparked protests from guardians and the school had to shelve the proposal.
Another school, St Michaels, directed the students to leave when they did not buy books from the school.
The schools cannot force the children to buy books, but in case of notebooks they still can insist depending on the format they want, said Herod Mullick, state secretary Bangiyo Christiyo Pariseba.