Is Capping of School Fees Killing Our Future?

Guajrat Government ruled to cap school fees through the Gujarat Self Financed Schools (Regulation of Fees) Act, 2017.

Here's what I read of the Act,

1. School Fees is capped at Rs. 15,000 for pre/primary schools, Rs. 25,000 for secondary schools and Rs. 27,000 for higher secondary schools for Academic Yr 17/18. No announcement yet on 18/19.
2. Any deviations need to be approved by a committee where in a break-up and justification needs to be provided by the schools.

Here's what I hear as justification about the law:

• Schools are supposed to be non-profit making, yet they charge high fees (more on this later) and are being run as companies rather than schools.
• There is an uncontrolled increase in school fees every year.

Yes, in the short run, all of this makes good sense. But here are some thoughts that are making me sit back and think:

1. Schools may not make profits, but schools are institutions and institutions needs Capital and Labour to survive. What is the function that defines the fees to quality of teachers and administrators, infrastructure, pedagogy, recognition, affiliations, quality of output? We had great teachers in our time at Bhavans, Vadodara and what a biology lab of specimen of all sorts we had! I wonder if the same teachers and infrastructure would be manageable at schools that have to work under strict budgets? 
2. The lack of a methodology to define the school fees and leaving that to committee to decide (and with all due respect to the committee) without guidelines or a formula is lack of transparency. That's not the most ideal way!
3. Finally, can we compare this with the per capita cost of education that the Government spends in the state of pre-primary, primary and secondary education. I have no idea, but some people I spoke to said that this is much north of the cap set by the Government under the Act. I wonder if that is true. 

My two cents on the above:

1. Schools charging what they wish to is probably free market economy. Government intervention in free market is like saying that the government should cap air fare? Fun fact: on certain days of the year, a one-way single airfare between cities a couple of hours apart in India is comparable to a years school fees per the Act! 
2. In security, we talk of the weakest link. For every control, there is a loop hole. Schools will probably find a roundabout way and that's not good for straightforwardness. (Which, I believe, is one of the traits that we want our kids to imbibe!)
3. A more positive way of handling this would be, that the government focuses on getting government schools to a world class level; such that parents want to send their schools to government schools than private schools. If this happens, that surely is a win and will be great and exemplary governance! 

But till then I am skeptical that this Act might be like a soothing balm in the short run, but in the long run can destroy quality of education and remove transparency in education.

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit...

....

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake!