Fees in private English-medium schools are set to rise soon, thanks to the Right to Education Bill.

The bill, pending in the Rajya Sabha after being cleared by the Lower House, proposes reservation of 25 per cent seats in all “aided” and “unaided” schools for students from “weaker sections of society” and free education for them till Class VIII.

The schools will also be required to provide all facilities, including textbooks, free to the underprivileged children.

The authorities of private English-medium schools fear that the provisions, if implemented, would be a strain on their cash reserves, forcing a hike in tuition fees for the remaining 75 per cent students.

The fees now vary between Rs 750 and Rs 2,500 a month from Class I to XII.

Schools depend on fees paid by students, said principals across town. Offering education free or at a subsidised rate will force institutions to raise fees for the rest, they chorused.

“We have not gone through the final draft of the bill. The preliminary draft, available on the Internet, suggests that unaided schools like ours would come within its ambit. It’s a matter of concern if we are asked to provide free education to 25 per cent students,” said Ranjan Mitter, the principal of Future Foundation School.

“The bill proposes that the state governments shoulder some of the additional expenditure of the unaided schools. But there will still be a shortfall,” said Krishna Damani, of South Point School.

What kind of a fee hike would the schools be looking at? “It’s too early to comment on the amount,” said Sujoy Biswas, the principal of Ram Mohan Mission High School, while stressing that a fee hike would be unavoidable.

There are around 450 private English-medium schools — other than the ones run by Christian missionaries and Anglo-Indian organisations — across the state. In the city, the number stands at 250.

The heads of Anglo-Indian schools across the country have opposed the bill, fearing infringement on their minority rights guaranteed under Article 30 of the Constitution.