NMMC officers to handle fee plaints

Complaints of high school fees are likely to crop up; schools justify saying staff salary to be paid

NAVI MUMBAI: With schools reopening soon, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has got nodal officers to handle complaints related to private schools. The corporation receives around 10 complaints daily about various schools. Most of the complaints are regarding excess of fees and they are expected to go up as the schools reopen.

The nodal officers have been arranging for hearings from the school and parents to make sure that no student is deprived of education. “The intention is not only to bring an amicable solution but also to ensure that no child is suffering and denied education,” deputy civic chief, Yogesh Kaduskar, said.

Rekha Patil, in-charge of the grievance cell of Belapur, Nerul and Turbhe, said, “I get around seven to eight calls daily from parents regarding the excess fees. There are also cases wherein the parents have not paid the fees and hence denied the results. In all cases, we contact the school and give them an opportunity to speak. Every parent who is calling is asked to come and meet me at the office to discuss the issue in detail. Once the schools start, the complaints are likely to increase.”

Meanwhile, Shiravane and Vashi in-charge, Atmaram Mirkute, said, “There are many cases wherein the parents are directly approaching us instead of the school first. After we take a note of the issue, we get in touch with the school while they tell us that the parents have not approached them. So,

we ask every parent to first approach the school and in case of lack of response, they should come to us.”

There have also been complaints about schools increasing the ‘tuition fees’ by including the fees of ‘other activities’ into the ‘tuition fee’ head.

In a similar complaint, a parent of a private school said,

“We have been writing to the school to reduce the fees as the school is saving on many things like electricity, material for activities, print outs. Yet the fees are increased. The school tries to portray that they are charging only the ‘tuition fee’ whereas they have actually included other heads into the ‘tuition fee’. The school has not agreed to reduce the fees besides the 10 per cent discount on paying the whole fees at one go, which is already given every year.”

Dorothy D’Souza, principal of Podar International School (ICSE board), said, “Our school has appealed to the parents to pay the school fees so that we can continue to pay the salaries of the staff. The school is providing comprehensive virtual classes to all students irrespective of whether the student has paid the school fees or not. We understand the difficult situation being faced by the parents and have already provided concessions in the fee amount and have tied up with financial companies to assist parents who want to avail financing options to pay the school fees.”

NMMC commissioner, Abhijit Bangar, said, “There is a Supreme Court judgement that says that excess fees should not be levied. However, we are awaiting a government notification. In cases where fees have been increased without parents’ consent, action will be taken.”