Re-admit 4 expelled kids, rights panel tells Billabong

“The school has charged capitation fee and has arbitrarily increased the fee. Action must be taken against the school under section 13 of the RTE Act. Parents had written to the school education department on April 16, 2014, stating that their children were expelled after they protested against the fee hike. Accordingly, take action against the school for expulsion under section 16 of the RTE Act and submit the action taken report on both issues,” says the letter of the state school education department to the education officer (primary) of the Thane Zila Parishad (ZP), dated April 21, 2014.

MSCPCR told the education officer (Thane) Tuesday to proceed with action as directed by the state. Parents, whose children were studying in classes 1, 3, 7 and 8 of the school, had written two letters to MSCPCR. The first letter, dated April 2, 2014, said their children were punished for non-payment of fees as demanded by the school and the report cards of the annual exam were also not given. In their second letter dated April 10, 2014, the parents have said that the “children were denied admission for filing complaint with MSCPCR and alleged non-payment of fees”.
“The school cannot involve children to get its demand fulfilled. Education is a fundamental right and it shouldn’t be denied to any child. We request you to look into the matter and reinstate our children to the school immediately,” says the letter.

In the expulsion letter dated April 7, 2014, the school wrote that the children would not be admitted for the 2014-15 academic year. “You haven’t paid the complete fees for 2013-14. You filed a complaint with the police and MSCPCR, making false and unwarranted allegations against the school management. You have led a team of media into the school and barged into the school. You have shouted against the school management in front of other students. This conduct affects the relationship between the school and students. In these circumstances, the management is constrained to require you to arrange for your child’s admission in another school from 2014-15 onwards,” says the school’s letter.
The parents, however, said that when the school involved the children by “forcibly detaining and terrorising them”, they had to report the matter to the police to rescue them.

Meanwhile, the Thane ZP education officer (primary) had written to the school principal on March 21, 2013, stating that “we met the school authorities on March 16, 2013 and subsequently wrote to them, instructing them not to hike fees. The school disrespected our letter and continued accepting increased fees from the parents”.

In another letter to the deputy director of school education, dated March 25, 2013, the Thane ZP education officer (primary), said the school was making parents shell out an exorbitant amount in the name of admission fee, but no account is maintained for the same. “This’s violation of government rules. Their recognition must be cancelled immediately and the Charity Commissioner must be recommended to get an audit report of the money collected by the school from the parents,” it says.

Terming the complaint “false, frivolous and vexatious”, the school, in their affidavit, said that all parents, except the complainants, have paid the increased fees. It said neither MSCPCR not the education officer had any powers to regulate the fees of a private, unaided school.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com