Parents protest lack of action against fee hikes

Cong., BJP, Sena leaders express solidarity

May 21, 2017 11:44 pm | Updated 11:44 pm IST

Parents gather to protest fee hikes at Azad Maidan on Sunday.

Parents gather to protest fee hikes at Azad Maidan on Sunday.

Mumbai: Nearly to 50 parents gathered at Azad Maidan on Sunday, many of them members of education group Forum for Fairness in Education, to protest fee hikes and lack of systemic changes in school education over the past few months. Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam, State Home Minister Ranjit Patil and Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant also visited the protest site. Mr. Nirupam said he will continue to be a part of the parents’ protests in future.

Though her children’s school, Sister Nivedita High School in Dombivli, is not increasing fees, D. Latashree is supporting the cause. She said, “The system at large is allowing schools to get away with charging parents excessive fees and this has been going on for at least two months.”

The State government appointed a nine-member committee of parents, which met on May 19 to discuss amendments to the Fee Regulation Act. The committee is scheduled to meet again later this week. “Why the need for this committee, or to discuss changes to the Act? The Act clearly says such fee hikes are illegal and should be penalised,” Ms. Latashree said.

Mitesh Mehta, whose child studies at Thakur International School, Kandivali, added, “The school is flouting laws, and we are fed up with being made to pay fees because they are ‘mandatory under the law’”. He said in the previous academic year, the school charged ₹8,660 for school books, though they cost only ₹2,000.

The Fee Regulation Act states that private school fees are to be decided by an executive committee comprising the principal, teachers and parent representatives of the school, to whom the management must submit the fee schedule six months ahead of the academic year. If the fee increase is over 15% and the same has not been approved by the committee and the State Divisional Fee Regulatory Committee, schools are liable to pay a minimum fine of ₹2 lakh and refund fees. However, this has not been implemented, parents said, and schools are continuing with increases in fees and related expenses due to non-action by authorities.

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