After a hearing at Mantralaya on issues of fee hike and exorbitant amounts taken for books and stationery, Kandivli school agrees to give refund to parents
Thakur International School in Kandivli has agreed to refund parents’ money taken for books and stationery. Pic/Nimesh Dave
The state government's intervention has brought much relief to parents of students of Kandivli's Thakur International School, after it agreed to refund the money taken for books for the current academic year, and also said that it won't sell books from the next year.
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Also read: Education minister Vinod Tawde to discuss fee hike with schools and parents
On April 19, four schools and parents of kids studying there were called for a meeting at Mantralaya to discuss the fee hike issue. At the hearing, allegations of the Kandivli school overcharging parents for books and stationery came up, after which the state asked the school to resolve the issue at the earliest. Parents had also alleged that for many years, the school had been increasing the costs of books, stationery and other items, and was only giving them a cumulative bill, instead of a detailed one.
Textbook knowledge
"For many years now, the school has made us compulsorily buy books from it, with the cost increasing every year by a huge margin. We had demanded a detailed bill on March 11, after which we were sent only the number of items we were charged for. And that revealed that as compared to the cost of textbooks, we had been paying a lot more for other stationery, annual day costumes and class photographs," said a parent.
Another, whose child studies in Std VI, said, "Last year, I paid around Rs 8,000 for Std V books and other items, all of which as per the MRP would have cost me a mere Rs 2,500. This year, for Std VI, the school asked us to pay Rs 12,500."
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Parents have alleged that the school management has been showing inflated costs of a number of items and charging them for other things under the pretext of textbook purchases. "The school can't charge us for annual day costume under 'book fees', and if their intention is so clean, they should have informed us earlier. What if some student has not participated in the school annual day? Will they refund the costume amount to parents then? Have they ever? Where does all this money that they have been taking go?" questioned a parent.
Authorityspeak
The school, however, while refuting the parents' allegations, said it has resolved the dispute after the hearing at Mantralaya. "Our dispute with the parents over book fees has been resolved; but it's false that the school forced parents to buy books from it. We have decided to refund book fees charged for 2017-18, and provide parents with a list of stationery items. From next year, the school won't sell books to parents," said a spokesperson from Thakur International School.
Also read - Mumbai: Parents plan to strengthen protest against school fee hike
Education inspector of Mumbai western zone Nitin Bachhav said, "We will keep a watch on the school, to see whether it is following our orders or not. After that, we will submit a detailed report to the state education department."
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