Vibgyor School in Bengaluru’s Horamavu has been accused of hiking the school fee despite the government order not to hike fee this year.
The school has reportedly sent a circular to all the parents threatening to discontinue their children’s enrollment if they fail to pay the hiked school fee. The circular dated July 1st reads,
“For the small number of parents who have NOT yet paid any fee for this academic year, it will be assumed that you are no longer interested in your ward continuing to study at our school. As a consequence, we will initiate the de-enrolment process for your ward from 13th July 2020, for the academic year 2020-21. In case you still wish to continue, we request you to pay up the dues immediately.”
A school representative spoke to a media house and said,
“Anything related to the fees, we can address the parents directly. Whichever parents you are contacting, you can reiterate to them that we are meeting them in person and we are able to convince them. With relation to this, if we need to get back to them, we will address that.”
Government Circular Against Fee Hike
However, it is not yet clear if the school has given any concessions to parents who are not being able to pay the fee because of the economic distress caused by the pandemic. Either way, the hike in school fee is against the government circular which is date April 28. The circular issued by the Department of Public Instruction concerning this had asked schools to not increase the fee for the new academic year as there are financial hardships to people because of COVID-19. Otherwise, schools usually hike 15 percent every year. The department had also launched a helpline and complaint window to address the same issue. An aggrieved parent, Pramod Prabhakar said,
“Despite the clear instructions from the government, the school has increased fees saying that the fee for the next class will be obviously higher than the previous grade. I am made to pay Rs. 68,000 more from last year.”
On May 19, the department issued another circular where it allowed schools to collect fees from only those parents who are willing and had also said that the school cannot increase the fee from last year. The department had also asked the schools to make arrangements for parents who are economically affected.
Source: The News Minute
