A pet peeve among parents made its way to the floor of the Assembly on Monday, with the sharp hike in school fees being the point of contention.

?There are 18 prominent private English-medium schools in Calcutta itself that are burning holes in the pockets of the parents with their unreasonably high fees,? alleged Pankaj Banerjee, leader of the Opposition and Trinamul Congress MLA.

This prompted Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee?s government to announce plans to set up an expert committee to monitor exorbitant fee hikes and discrepancies in payment of salaries to teachers in schools affiliated to the state Boards that don?t take financial assistance from the government.

Along with it came the admission that there were no measures in place to check the spurt in annual fees ? over Rs 300 at some, this session ? in schools affiliated to the Delhi-based ICSE or CBSE once the no-objection certificate (NOC) is issued to them.

?We have received complaints of steep fee hikes in such schools, and also of teachers not being paid as per norms. We cannot repeal the NOCs to the 703-odd schools in and outside Calcutta and jeopardise the fate of students,? pointed out minister of school education Kanti Biswas.

?Instead, we will form an expert committee, including a cost accountant, to monitor and probe the problem, and then take necessary steps to rectify the situation,? added the minister.

Biswas, however, assured the Assembly that if ?specific complaints about any particular school? were received, they would be taken up with the Board concerned.