Parents question school’s decision to hike nursery fees, which has gone up by six times in four years.
On Sunday, more than 100 parents gathered outside Amarjyothi Public School at Basavanapura near KR Puram, to protest an exorbitant hike in school fees. Theirs is a story of ‘quality’ education that could plunge families into poverty.
Soon after the school was affiliated to Manipal K12, a collaborative venture between Edurite Technologies and Manipal University, parents received a circular dated February 26 which informed them of the hike. While the school collected Rs4,800 as annual fees for students in the nursery in 2006, for the 2010-11 academic year, the fees charged would be Rs31,175.
There would be additional charges for uniforms, books, and extra-curricular activities. Annual fee for a nursery student would thus be more than Rs40,000. The fees were thus hiked by nearly six times in four years. Parents had protested earlier, too.
The school is set to re-open for the fresh academic year on May 26. On March 14, parents had gathered and expressed their ire. A protest was staged for nearly 12 hours, after which school secretary Srinivas Raju had agreed to consider the demands of the parents and send a revised circular in three weeks’ time. At that point, a hike of 15% was agreed upon.
On Sunday, the protesting parents said that the school authorities would introduce extra-curricular activities mid-way through the academic year. Extra fees would be charged for each of these activities. Last academic year, parents received a letter explaining the benefits of abacus, which the school was introducing for heightening mathematical prowess. A fee of Rs2,500 was charged for each student towards lessons in abacus, but the course was discontinued after two months.
The school advertises a host of extra-curricular activities — environment consciousness, karate, sports, music and dance. However, there are no musical instruments available. Uddappa MD, a parent, says, “The school has no science laboratories, no playground. Despite that, they charge phenomenal fees towards extra-curriculars.”
One letter from school authorities explained that a blazer would be introduced as part of the school uniform, and additional fees were charged towards that. Parents are expected to provide children five different pairs of uniforms — foxed parents say that most schools do not require more than three different uniforms. Uniforms, parents complain, are frequently changed. Parents are required to buy textbooks from the school; these are not sold at the maximum retail price.
There is, however, little discussion of how the quality of the education would change with the affiliation to Manipal K12. The school follows the syllabus of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Under rules of the CBSE, increment in fees beyond 9% is not permissible.
Ramesh Babu, a parent, said, “The affiliation to Manipal K12 happened without consultation. The Manipal University has experience in running higher education programmes. It has no experience in school-level education. We have sent complaints to the Lokayukta and education minister Kageri.”
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