With the state education department dragging its feet in regulating fee hike in private unaided schools in the city, parents are being forced to pay the increased fees by the school managements. Several parents of students of the Billabong High Schools (BHS) in Juhu and Malad are planning to file complaint with the deputy director of school education. They have the backing of an organisation, Forum for Fairness in Education.
A group of 150 parents of students of BHS Juhu is fighting against the school management for hiking the fees from Rs57,200 per annum in 2009-10 to Rs74,000 in 2010-11 (for grade IV). Furthermore, parents have complained that they are being charged Rs25,000 as section transfer fee, to be paid over and above the term fees.
“We have been asked to pay Rs20,000 to Rs25,000 as section transfer fee as my son has been promoted from primary to secondary class (from grade IV to V). It is illegal to charge such an amount as the secondary school code specifies that schools cannot charge more than one month’s tuition fee as transfer fee,” a parent said on condition of anonymity.
The parents have given the school management a week to justify the unreasonable fee hike. “We had submitted a memorandum seeking explanation for such high section transfer fee. In reply, we got a letter from the school threatening that failure to pay the fee would result in cancellation of admissions,” the parent said.
Most parents have paid the hiked first quarter fee of Rs34,000 to ensure admission of their wards. But htyeb have not paid the section transfer fee as it is illegal.
The BHS, Malad, has hiked fees from Rs96,500 in 2009-10 to Rs1,04,000 in 2010-11 in secondary section.
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