The move comes weeks after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had warned private schools against turning into "shops" by selling uniform and books in their premises.
"We have told schools that they should not charge unreasonable fees. The charges should be reasonable and there should be no hidden costs as that is the more irritating part for parents," Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar told PTI in an interview.
The minister, however, did not clarify about the penalty measures for schools found guilty of overcharging and with hidden costs in their fees structure.
Overcharging by schools and increase in fees every year has been a subject of concern often raised by parents.
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Gujarat had last month introduced "Gujarat Self-Financed Schools (Regulation of Fees) Bill, 2017" to regulate the exorbitant fees charged by schools.
Fees structure proposed in the bill for primary, secondary and higher secondary schools is Rs 15,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 27,000 per year, respectively. Schools that wish to charge more will have to approach the regulatory committee, which will have jurisdiction over all private schools, whether affiliated to the Gujarat board, the CBSE or international boards.
The bill had also caught interest of several states and also the Centre with education ministers from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra and Javadekar asking for copies of the bill from Gujarat Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama.
"We value private investment as it contributes to the GDP but schools should not be overcharging," Javadekar said.
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