Parents lock horns with Mumbai school over annual 15% fee hike

Of the host of things that parents of schoolgoing kids have to think about school fees are a constant source of worry and uncertainty The absence of a Fee Regulation Act has added to parentsrsquo woes as there is not a single rule in place to regulate fee hikes in schoolsSchool authorities claim that the fee hike is necessary in order to introduce interventions like early childhood development and appointment of special educators and remedial teachers PicShadab KhanThe most recent instance of animosity between parents and school management over school fees has been recorded in Diamond Jubilee High School in Mazgaon where parents are angry about the schoolrsquos decision to impose a 15 per cent hike every yearldquoFor the past seven years we have been going along with an annual fee hike of 15 per cent While the school claims that added expenses and teachersrsquo incentives are the main reasons for the hike we refuse to believe that the school needs to impose a fee hike every year to raise funds especially since it has over 1300 studentsrdquo said one of the parentsHe added that even the schoolrsquos Parent Teacher Association PTA has not been successful in changing the decision of the school management regarding the fee hike ldquoIrsquom sure some parents are happy to pay the hiked fees but many of us are really unhappy especially since we are seeing very little development in the school or the quality of education provided thererdquo he addedWhile the muchawaited Fee Regulation Act is yet to be implemented in the state the education department had released a government resolution GR dated March this year clearly stating that schools can increase fees only with the permission of the PTA and a 15 per cent hike can only be implemented once in two yearsActivists have pointed out that even with this GR in place very little action has been taken against private schools which have regularly increased their school fees leaving parents in the lurch ldquoSince this is a private school even the education department is not taking any action against the management We have written to the deputy director of education as well as the state education department in Mantralaya but nothing has changedrdquo said the parentldquoMany parents have not been paying the full fees as they are still opposed to the previous few fee hikes The rest of us have no option but to pay the feesrdquo said another parent Parents also alleged that the school PTA has been formed with the permission of the school management and is being manipulated by themThe other sideWhen midday spoke to the school management they stated that the school has implemented fee hikes within the range of 15 per cent band not always 15 per cent ldquoOurs is a very new school with ICSE affiliation and we are leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that we provide our students with an international standard of learningWe will soon be introducing interventions like early childhood development revamp of preprimary infrastructure and we already have many special educators remedial teachers apart from the regular class teachers The fees will be invested for the samerdquo said Trisha Sen head of education Aga Khan Education Services India which runs the schoolShe added that while a handful of parents have complained against the fee hike most parents have supported the school in its ventures ldquoWe are not in this business for making profits and hopefully our work will prove the parents wrong soonrdquo she added