School wants parents to pay for tourney

A group of parents have lodged a complaint with the Forum For Fairness in Education, an NGO which fights against the commercialisation of and corruption in education, stating that Don Bosco School in Wadala has been asking for donations from them to hold a sports tournament.

Parents claim that the school has been asking them to either approach sponsors or contribute Rs20,000 to Rs30,000.

However, the school claims that since the government had suspended non-salary grants from 2004, the government aid is insufficient.

The school spokesperson told DNA that money is being collected for not just an inter-school sports tournament, but for Christmas and the Annual Day celebrations as well. 

“We had requested parents to contribute whatever amount they can afford. And some parents were asked to get sponsors for advertisements in our brochure,” said the spokesperson.

The parents who complained say that a month ago, the school had called them individually and asked them to pay up.

One parent, whose child is studying in Junior KG, said, “I was asked to pay Rs20,000, which I could not afford to pay.  By pooling my savings, I managed to contribute Rs10,000. But why should I pay anything at all when the RTE Act clearly states that any kind of donation is illegal?”

Yet another parent said that the school should have informed them of their expectations at the time of admission itself. “I got my child admitted in this school because I cannot afford to pay the donations and exorbitant fees at other schools. If I were told about this back then, my child would not be in this school today,” he said.