As parents protest against fee hike, DM forms inquiry panel

On Tuesday, Tyagi and 50 other irked parents reached the school and blocked its gates to protest the fee hike.

A YEAR ago, Rajinder Tyagi admitted his ward in Class II at a private school in Ghaziabad. He was charged a quarterly tuition fee of Rs 11,070. This year, the school fee has increased, allegedly to around Rs 17,000 for three months. On Tuesday, Tyagi and 50 other irked parents reached the school and blocked its gates to protest the fee hike.

“There has been a hike of 50 per cent. Earlier, they used to charge Rs 30,000 as admission fee, now it is Rs 55,000. The annual charges have been increased from Rs 4,000 to Rs 8,000. Why are they putting so much burden on us?” he asked. Another parent, whose two children study at a private school in Sahibabad, said, “School authorities mailed us saying that if the hiked fee is not submitted by April 20, school leaving certificates will be issued to our children. We have written to the MP and the district administration.”

On Sunday afternoon, the Noida stadium also witnessed disgruntled parents protesting the “arbitrary fee hike” and demanding its rollback.

The District Magistrate of Gautam Buddha Nagar Tuesday formed an inquiry committee to look into the complaints against the CBSE board schools in Noida and Greater Noida. Headed by the City Magistrate, the committee has been asked to submit an inquiry report within a week.

“We will check if the fee has been increased as per CBSE guidelines. We will also check if children are being forced to buy books and school bags from the school and whether children under EWS quota have been admitted. Such complaints have been made against DPS, Sector 132,” said Ramanuj Singh, city magistrate, Gautam Buddha Nagar.

Indira Kohli, the principal of DPS, Noida, Sector 132, said, “The fee has been hiked by 14 per cent because employees have to be paid as per the 7th pay commission. As far as the school books and uniforms are concerned, we have said it is not mandatory.”

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