NMMC holds hearing on Podar Intl School fee hike

The parents have alleged that the school management has been indulging in the same tactics for over two years to delay the rollback and has only been giving them assurances

The education department of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) conducted a hearing over the fee hike at the Podar International School Nerul on Thursday, in presence of the school management and parents. The education officer assured the parents that the fee hike issue would be resolved.

Meanwhile, the school management sought time to go through the minutes of the meeting and said they will respond accordingly.

However, the parents alleged that the school management has been indulging in the same tactics for over two years to delay the rollback of the hiked fees and has only been giving them assurances. Earlier, parents had staged a protest in front of the school premises on March 12 against the alleged hike in tuition fees. The parents have also alleged that the school forces them to buy books and stationery from a particular shop.

During the pandemic, the state government had directed that only tuition fees be collected as students attended classes online. The parents, however, alleged that the school management merged the term fees with the tuition fees for the academic year 2021-22. This increased the tuition fee by around 26 per cent.

“We have demanded that hiked tuition fees should be rolled back and there should be a deduction of 15 per cent in tuition fee for one particular academic year as per the state government resolution,” said a parent Kewal Mehta.

The parents also alleged that the quality of education was compromised during the pandemic despite them paying the complete fees.

“The school seems more interested in collecting fees and other charges instead of providing quality education,” said an aggrieved parent.