Fee hike issue escalates as another school increases amount for 2015-16

“The school had once increased the fee by 8 per cent in 2014. Although the Parents Teacher Association was consulted, several members of the core committee which finalises the hike in fees are also related to school management in one way or the other. But despite that fact, we said a yes for the one-time increase,” said a parent.

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But the problem arose when the school issued a fee increase notice for the consecutive academic year as well. “The school again increased the fee by 9.6 per cent which is rather very high. Plus it goes against the Fee Regulation Act, which says that the fee cannot be increased for three years after a one-time increase. We even tried to reason with the management but to no avail,” said another parent.

The fee of a Class IV student in 2014-15 after the 8 per cent fee hike was Rs 76,000 per annum. With a 9.6 percent increase in the fee, the total fee for a primary class student would be Rs 83, 296, which was more than what many engineering colleges charged, said a parent.

A letter was submitted to the PCMC education officer and the deputy director of education in December but no action was taken by either of them. “The education officer and deputy director have copies of our complaint and we are again going to submit a letter to the deputy director once the education officer submits her report,” said Sandeep Chavan from the Forum for Fairness in Education.

“Almost 60 per cent of the core committee members of the school, which decides on the fee issues comprises teachers on management beneficiaries. When parents found out about the 9.6 per cent hike, they refused to sign the memorandum. But the other 60 per cent signed it and the school management said the resolution had been passed which went against the spirit of the fee regulation Act,” said Chavan.

Talking to Newsline, school principal Amrita Vohra said, “The matter is with the education department of the PCMC and they will take appropriate steps. School will comply with the directives issued by the education department.”