Fee hike of 30% in private schools

As per the available details of top schools, those who seek admission in concept and techno schools would have to pay at least Rs 7,000-10,000 more from the next academic year i.e. 2014-15. This is for the classes VI to X. For example, a class XI student, who paid Rs 45,000 thousand in a chain school, will have to cough additional Rs 8000-9500 this year.

Schools which have ‘international tag’ have increased their fee by a 40 per cent. They are defending the hike brazenly saying this is a ‘cumulative effect’.

“Power charges have gone up and transport costs flared up. We have to hike the salaries as well keeping in tune with the changing times. Where can we bring the money? We are providing air conditioners, fans, coolers, AC buses, luxury buses as per the demands of the parents. We are running very hygienic and student-friendly canteens. Who will bear the costs? We are just shifting part of the burden on to the parents. In fact, bearing the inflationary adjustments has become too burdensome for us,” a management representative of a high-end corporate school told The Hans India.

But parents have a different version. “Installation of ACs are there but they don’t work and at least half of the year, i.e. during the rainy and winter seasons, they will not even be put on. The fans, mostly of local made don’t work. The canteen is for only a fewer effluent sections. We are virtually squeezed,” said Swarajya Lakshmi, a parent, whose daughter is studying class VIII in an ‘international public school’.

Schools which have the CBSE syllabus have also increased the fee substantially. “Most of the CBSE schools have been fleecing us citing additional infrastructure, more tests, CCE work, curriculum up-gradation etc. They even say there is dearth of skilled teachers who can teach in CBSE syllabus and they have to hire teachers by offering more,” Vivekananda Murthy, working in a college at Dilsukhnagar said.

Government officials have remained as mute spectators even though they were fully aware of fee hike. “We proposed a uniform fee of Rs 12,000 for many second-rung private schools way back in 2008. We devised a mechanism that the fee hike of any management shall be done only through a committee comprising of management representatives, government educational authorities, parents, prominent people from that area, and one or two teachers.

The committee, after scrutinising the infrastructural facilities at the school will suggest the quantum of fee and that will be ratified by the

government. But some managements have objected to this mechanism and went to court and got a stay. After a great difficulty, we could lift the stay but on another count, the managements approached the court.

The case is still pending. What can we do?” a senior official of Primary Education Department explained.