Parents barge into school over fee hike
About 200 parents protesting against fee hike at the St Lawrence School in Kandivali East broke the school gate's lock and barged in when they were not allowed to enter the premises. The police had to be called in.
The parents alleged that the school has been hiking the annual fees every year without consulting them – from Rs 800 to Rs 1,360 last year and to 1,900 this year.
“The school did not consult us or even give us a notice justifying the hike,” said Pratibha Parihar, whose daughter studies in class III. “The parents here are autorickshaw drivers or shopkeepers. How will they be able to afford the fees if the school arbitrarily hikes the fees?”
“They also put a late fine of Rs 10 per day. And they refused to give any explanation,” said Sunil Tiwari, another parent. “When we went on June 24, they asked us to come on Friday. But when we went, they locked the gate and said that the principal doesn’t want to meet us.”
Despite repeated attempts, principal Shashi Shekhar Chauhan or the Ryan Group (the school management) could not be reached for comments. Additional Commissioner of Police (north) Fateh Singh Patil said: “The police came to know about 150-200 parents were protesting outside school over issue of fee hike. The senior inspector of Samta Nagar and assistant commissioner of the same division were asked to visit and monitor the situation. No [other] untoward incident took place.”
The parents alleged that the school has been hiking the annual fees every year without consulting them – from Rs 800 to Rs 1,360 last year and to 1,900 this year.
“The school did not consult us or even give us a notice justifying the hike,” said Pratibha Parihar, whose daughter studies in class III. “The parents here are autorickshaw drivers or shopkeepers. How will they be able to afford the fees if the school arbitrarily hikes the fees?”
The parents said they were informed about the hike on the first day the school re-opened earlier this month.
“They also put a late fine of Rs 10 per day. And they refused to give any explanation,” said Sunil Tiwari, another parent. “When we went on June 24, they asked us to come on Friday. But when we went, they locked the gate and said that the principal doesn’t want to meet us.”
Despite repeated attempts, principal Shashi Shekhar Chauhan or the Ryan Group (the school management) could not be reached for comments. Additional Commissioner of Police (north) Fateh Singh Patil said: “The police came to know about 150-200 parents were protesting outside school over issue of fee hike. The senior inspector of Samta Nagar and assistant commissioner of the same division were asked to visit and monitor the situation. No [other] untoward incident took place.”
