Mumbai:
Parents now have a new reason to complain against the Mumbai schools. Authorities of Balaji International School in Malad have posted a notice stating that parents who are unable to afford the hiked fees may avail of the concessions granted by the management, after producing their salary slips. The school has decided to take this step after the recent protests waged by the parents. However, this has put them on the receiving end of even more flak from parents' quarters.
The fees have also been increased recently at Billabong High School in Andheri, where parents are in dire straits, as the admission procedures have been completed in all other schools. They have no option now but to cough up the exorbitant fees in order to ensure that their kids get to go to school. It seems that the parents' protest against fee hike is a never-ending drama of several acts. The hunger strikes undertaken by parents and teachers ended only on April 20 at Azad Maidan. Within a week, a new group of parents have started protesting against their schools.
While the management of Balaji International School has hiked fees from 15 per cent to 25 per cent, Billabong High at Malad has hiked it by 15 per cent. Quite craftily, this revised pay structure has come right after the admission procedures in other schools have been concluded, claim angry parents.
A parent of a Balaji International School student, said, "The fee hike is not approved by the Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Is the school justified in increasing its fees, simply by calling 12 to 15 members for a school that has 800 students? They are claiming that they will build a new school building, but why should they charge it to the parents? The school does not provide facilities, which are commensurate with the newly hiked fees; they don't even provide a play area for kids. Even the indoor sports facilities are in very poor condition. Now the school has placed a notice saying that if any parents object to the new fee structure, they can approach the management with their salary slip and gain concession. This is clearly discriminatory."
Another parent from same school, said, "For the last three years, the school has been continuously increasing its fees. This year they have hiked 25 per cent in fees. We didn't approve of this fee hike, and requested an audience with the trustees. There was no response from the management initially. Suddenly we hear of their new strategy of asking for pay slips. How can they discriminate amongst parents and apply different fee structures to parents from different income groups? Moreover, why should I show my bank balance to the school?"
A parent from Billabong International High, Rakesh Waghela (name changed), said, "Our school has increased fees by 15 per cent without our consent. To add to our woes, they have declared this revised fee system in the month of April. They have done this intentionally, so that we are unable to change schools. We are also unfairly charged an additional sports fee by the school, although it is part of the curriculum."
Ashok Gupta, Director of Balaji International School, said, "Why do you want to know whether we hiked the fees, or whether parents are protesting against it?" He refused to comment on the pay slip issue. An official of Billabong High International, said on condition of anonymity, "The fee revision was done on the approval of the PTA. The fee hike is necessary if we are to implement the sixth pay commission for teachers. Besides, very few parents are protesting the fee hike. Such a miniscule number makes no difference to authorities."