Bhayander school fees hiked, kids stay home

DECEMBER 1: Students of the J H Poddar High School, Bhayander w, have had an extended weekend since Thursday last. Their parents have r...

DECEMBER 1: Students of the J H Poddar High School, Bhayander w, have had an extended weekend since Thursday last. Their parents have refused to send them to school to protest the fee hike announced by the school authorities in October. The school has claimed to have received the education department8217;s approval for the increase in fees, but the parents are firm on not accepting the hike.

The private school, run by Shri Bhayandar Kelvani Mandal, was set up in the early 80s and has three mediums 8212; Hindi, English and Gujarati 8212; for both its primary and secondary sections. The school announced the fee hike by issuing a circular to parents on October 25, saying parents had to monthly pay Rs 125 for the vernacular mediums and Rs 150 for the English medium in the primary section as against the earlier sum of Rs 80 for all mediums. For the secondary section, fees were raised from Rs 100 to Rs 250 for all mediums.

8220;We won8217;t accept a hike in the middle of an academic session. If at all they want to raise fees, it can be done next June, that too after consulting parents,8221; the parents, who have banded themselves into an association, said.

Just a year and a half ago, the parents had protested a Rs 20 hike, and they claim the management had then promised there would be no hike for the next five years. 8220;So how can they raise fees suddenly with effect from June 1999 without even talking to us? Most of the parents have a middle-class or lower middle-class background, and many of them have more than one child studying here. How do you expect them to pay?8221; members of the association asked.

However, the school8217;s managing committee member S Somani said: 8220;The teachers have to be paid new payscales. We therefore obtained approval for the hike from the deputy director Nashik. As for parents8217; accusations, we have not charged the approved hike for the primary section. For example, the approved hike for the Hindi primary section was Rs 150.8221;

The parents refuse to buy this argument. 8220;How can they complain about lack of money when they take donations? Their hunger for money is evident even in small cases. For example, the school diary, having 65 pages, is priced at Rs 30. A 200-page notebook will cost Rs 8 outside,8221; they held.

They also said the school management did not take the approval of the Parent Teachers Association PTA for the hike. 8220;Till a month ago, we were not even aware of the term PTA. Only when they issued a receipt of Rs 5 against PTA did we come to know of it. Anyway, we still don8217;t know who its members are. We have never heard of any discussion between the PTA and the management in this regard. In fact, once in a meeting on children8217;s cleanliness we were made to sign a paper which they later claimed was our approval for the fee hike,8221; the parents said.

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D U Gaikwad, education officer, Thane region, said he was informed of the hike by some parents only this evening. 8220;I have alraedy initiated proceedings for an enquiry into the case. Meanwhile, I see no reason why students cannot attend school.8221;