School fee hiked between 11% and 20% this year, reveals countrywide survey

More than half of all parents surveyed in a countrywide study have said the school fees of their children was hiked between 11% and 20% this year, highlighting the mounting cost of quality education in the country.

A study by localcircles.com (an online neighbourhood network ) comprising 9,000 parents and grandparents reported 54% people as saying that school increased fees between 11% and 20%. Fifteen per cent said the hike was more than 20% and 31% said the jump was between 0 and 10%. The survey was done in September 2016. The findings confirm a common grouse of parents: As schools become more privatised and government institutes fall behind, affording quality education for most middle-class families is becoming a stiff challenge.

Some governments — such as that in Delhi — have tried to rein in fees but with varying degrees of success. “Private schools have been hiking their fee without stating any genuine reason for it. We are fighting for fee regulation, but private schools are running a monopoly since government schools are not up to the mark,” said Ajay Rai, president, Jharkhand State Parents Association.

There was regional variation captured in the survey as well. More than 75% parents from Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Goa said school has increased the fee by more than 10%.

Around 50-75% parents from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh Telangana Delhi said the hike has been more than 10%. Only Gujarat and Bihar parents said schools increased fee by less than 10%.

Parents in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Chandigarh and other cities have held protests and sent memorandums to state governments seeking intervention to put an end to the arbitrary fee hikes.

The Uttarakhand government said it had decided to act on the parents’ complaints. “We will regulate the fee hike by public schools and fix a cap for the same to provide relief to parents,” state education minister Arvind Pandey said. In Madhya Pradesh, parents said almost all schools had increased fees between from 10% and 28% in the name of improving facilities.

Amit Taksali, a member of Jago Abhibhavak Jago — an organisation of parents — said, “The schools are increasing fees every year without consulting parents. I have read the bylaws of CBSE and it clearly states that the schools administration should consult the parents before taking a decision on fees hike.”

“Some parents have admitted their students in low profile schools due to the fees hike. The high profile schools are behaving autocratically and creating trouble for middle class families,” he added. School education minister for state Deepak Joshi said a bill to regulate the fees would be approved by cabinet soon.

In Uttarakhand, fees were hiked by 25-30% in schools, ostensibly for quality education. “The types of facilities provided, maintenance of infrastructure and high salary of teachers make it necessary to hike fee,” said Prem Kashyap president of Principals

Things turned ugly at Panjab University on Tuesday as the protest against fee hike witnessed police using tear gas and students replying with stonepelting. At least 15 policemen and some students had to get medical help while some were admitted to hospitals and said to be in a stable state. More than 50 were taken into custody.

The fee hike for the 2017-18 session — purportedly necessitated by a financial crunch at PU — meant some courses saw an increase of up to 1 000% The HRD Grants Commission (UGC) have been pressing PU to increase income from internal resources for grants. On Tuesday, students’ parties except the ABVP had called for a strike. The ABVP is protesting separately and their hunger strike entered its 10th day on Tuesday.

Around 10:30 am, hundreds of students gathered outside the V-C’S office and started sloganeering against V-C Arun Kumar Grover, the MHRD and UGC, and the Modi government. As students tried to push their way to enter the office, the police pushed them back. When the water cannon was used students took to

High courts must not allow medical and dental colleges to admit students until their legal dispute with the Centre over their affiliation is resolved, the Supreme Court held on Tuesday in a verdict that would bring relief to several aspirants who are left in the lurch if the institu tion loses a case.

A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said permitting col leges to admit students even before their affiliation is approved can jeopardize a stu dent’s future. “It is not a con struction which is built at the risk of a plaintiff or the defendant which can be demolished or redeemed by grant of compensa tion. It is a situation where the order has the potentiality to play with the career and life of young,” the bench held, striking down the Bombay high court order that allowed a dental college in Aurangabad to take students for its post-graduation course.

The institution had approached the HC after it was denied permission to start post graduate courses in Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics The admission process under taken was ordered to be at the risk of the college.

Assailing the HC order, Denta Council of India (DCI) counse Gaurav Sharma argued the directive was impermissible because it brought in “anarchy and chaos in the process of admis sion to medical courses.”

“By saying that the institution may give admission at its own risk invites further chaotic and unfortunate situations,” he impressed upon the bench. The college could not have started a course in the absence of an approval, Sharma submitted.

According to him the HC should have given a final opinion on whether the college had actu ally removed the deficiencies pointed by an inspection commit tee or the decision making proc ess in not recommending the approval was perverse Although the bench set aside the HC order, it gave some respite to three students who were admit ted pursuant to the direction. SC ordered the college to adjust the three from the 2017-18 academic session. It also directed the col lege to deposit ₹30 lakh before the top court’s registry, saying it would decide later what to do with the money.