The road outside the school, which remains chock-a-block during peak hours, was partially blocked as parents stood on the road shouting slogans and protesting against the school authorities till mid afternoon.
Unruly scenes at the gate of one of the most prestigious Schools Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Vidyashram were something any reputed educational institution would not like. Hapless parents burdened with unreasonable fee hike were up for agitation protesting the school’s diktat that increased the feed by up to whopping 49 per cent. They gate crashed the school pushing security guards to register their protest.
The road outside the school, which remains chock-a-block during peak hours, was partially blocked as parents stood on the road shouting slogans and protesting against the school authorities till mid afternoon.
The crowd didn’t even calm down when the Principal Pratima Sharma came out of her cabin after parents refused to budge. But to their dismay, the Principal maintained that there will be no roll back in the fee and it has been raised to support the implementation of the ‘Seventh Pay Commission’ introduced by the central government this year.
“Now, the school has to implement the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations. Further, the facilities have not been improved. The school anyway charges us extra for sports facilities. I pay Rs 3,500 for the lawn tennis,” said a parent, who did not want to be named.
A team of five persons, who represented the parents, had a meeting behind closed doors with Sharma, during which she verbally promised facilities like digital classes, cleaner toilets, better furniture and transport facilities after summer vacations. However, nothing has yet been promised in writing. “She stated that the fees cannot be reduced. However, she promised that there will not be any hike for the next two years. They are making preparations for the upgrade. But nothing is confirmed,” said another parent.
Fly by night edu-shops
“The school is run by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan educational trust, which was founded on November 7, 1938 by Dr KM Munshi, with the support of Mahatma Gandhi. This trust-run school is no different than the fly by night education-shops which has the only motive of filling their coffers irrespective of education quality,” a parent said.
CLASS-WISE FEE HIKE
- The fees have been raised from 23.5 per cent to 48.9 per cent
- Classes II to IV fee hike is 23.51 per cent
- Class V fee hike stands at 48.94 per cent
- Classes VI to VIII saw a hike of 24.05 per cent
- Classes IX and X fee hike has shot up to 23.81 per cent
- Classes XI and XII fee hike is pegged at 23.43 per cent
- Classes XI and XII have been slapped with extra fee for additional subject
Concerns
- A steep fee hike in one go has come as a shocker to parents
- Washrooms are not clean and emit foul smell
- Digital classroom fee has been included, but actually there are no digital classrooms yet
- Often, there is no drinking water
- Computer labs are not up to the mark
WHAT THE LAW SAYS
- Rajasthan Fee Regulation Rules 2017 does not specify the percentage cap up to which private schools of the state can raise fees per annum.
- However, each school is required to form a Parent-Teacher Association and a School Level Fee Committee to decide on the fees. The Fee Committee is required to have parents representatives which will be selected through lottery.
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