Thane school makes 6-year-old pay for dad's fee hike crusade

A protest outside RBK school in Mira Road last year FILE PICFor some the first day of school brings excitement for others it means anxiety For a sixyearold Std II student of Mira Roads RBK School it was humiliating The girl was allegedly made to sit alone in the library for over three hours on Monday the first day of the new academic year and yesterday in the reception area She was not allowed inside class The reason The management and her parents are locked in a dispute over the schools fee structure After two days of alienation she no longer wants to go to school say her parentsAfter a row following expulsion of students from Dahisars Universal High School over parents not paying the hiked fees state school education minister Vinod Tawde had instructed all schools to ensure that no child suffered any mental or physical harassment due to feerelated disputes between parents and school managementsAlso read Mumbai Fee regulating body DFRC tells parents to pay hiked feesThe girls father Aakash Nayak has submitted written complaints to the education officer as well as the police for the mental harassment his child sufferedA protest outside Mira Roads RBK school last year over extra admission fee FILE PICFee disputeMy daughter was quite excited about the first day of school but the way things unfolded has made her go into a shell She did not even eat her tiffin She doesnt want to go to school now fearing isolation said Nayak who has been running from pillar to post demanding justice If school did not want to let my child attend class it could have called us to take her back This is unacceptable that it takes her in and then makes her go through such trauma We dont understand the objective behind making a child go through this for no fault of hers What are they trying to prove he questionedHe added that his wife got a call around 230 pm informing about an envelope dropped in their daughters bag They asked my wife to check the envelope after our daughter had reached home When the school could call my wife to inform her about this it could have easily told us to take her back right at the start giving us a reason in writing for doing so How can a school be so insensitive toward children Nayak fumed adding that the envelope contained a letter from the schools lawyer listing aspects of fee payment and other regulationsAlso read Heres how Mumbai schools have gotten away with arbitrary fee hikesI paid the fees for the whole of last year through a Demand Draft because the school was not accepting my cheque Last year the schools fee structure dispute was in court and I was waiting for the courts directives after which I paid the fees The school then asked for Rs 1000 late fee for my son who is in Std IV which I paid in cash But for my daughter it is not giving any reason for not accepting the feesFrom the authoritiesRefuting Nayaks allegation the school management issued a statement that read Issue raised by the parent is sub judice It is denied that the child was made to sit in isolation in the library We have followed all rules and regulations governing us It is denied that the child has suffered any sort of harassment as allegedWe had written to Mr and Mrs Nayak over the last eight weeks about their duty to follow the orders of the court which had directed them to pay the feesAlso read Mumbai Dahisar school expels 78 students for not paying feesHowever the parents failed to respond to our reminders We are required to ensure minimum standards as mandated and norms of our admission process are transparent it addedDeputy director of education Mumbai BB Chavan however condemned the schools act and said This amounts to mental harassment of a child We will conduct an inquiry in the case and take action against the schoolIf the parent has submitted it a written complaint to my office we will look into it said deputy superintendent of police Thane Prashant Kadam