Parents protest against steep fee hike in Gurugram

Hundreds of parents protested outside Delhi Public School, Ghaziabad (DPSG) in Gurugram's Palam Vihar against sharp fee hike. The protesting parents alleged that the school has been 'unjustifiably' increasing the fee every three months. The school, on the other hand, said that the management would soon be holding a meeting with parents on the matter.

Talking to DNA, Renu Bansal, mother of a Class 11 student said, "Till last year, the annual fee was around Rs 32,000 but now it has been raised as much as Rs 1, 62,000." Her views were echoed by Kusum Sharma, "My son has been studying here for the past six years. When we got admission, it was affordable and governed by a trust. But since the Ansal Group took over its reins, they have demanding fee in a very arbitrary fashion. The quality of education has also deteriorated."

The parents have also claimed that the school has been "exploiting" them on other grounds as well. For instance, they alleged that they were "forced" to buy stationary and uniform from the school which were twice the market price. One parent, Rohit Bharadwaj, complained against the diet system started by school. "They have made diet compulsory for every student. But it is not nutritious or balanced. What's worse- they are charging exorbitantly for the same."

It was only after a member from the school management assured the parents of taking up the matter with higher authorities that they ended the protest. While the principal could not be contacted, one of the school officials told DNA that a meeting between the school management and parents will be held soon.