Nerul school demanded we pay capitation fees, say parents

NERUL: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Navi Mumbai has written a letter to Apeejay School, Nerul, asking them to stop ‘engaging in illegal activities’ by charging students capitation fees.

Addressed to the principal of the school, the letter by AAP district convenor Ravi Srivastava has listed seven illegal activities including charging students capitation fees, interviewing parents and nursery children for admission and forcing parents to buy stationery outlets shortlisted by the school.

The issue came to light when parents of students from the Nerul school approached AAP.

“After being approached by parents of five children, we decided to write to the principal asking for an explanation for these activities,” said Srivastava.

The school, however, denied the allegations. “We have finished admissions for the nursery section in January. I don’t know why these false allegations have been made against the school. We strongly refute them,” said Rakesh Joshi, principal of the school.

The letter also lists activities prohibited by the government via The Maharashtra Educational Institutions ( Prevention of Capitation Fees Act, 1987). “An educational institute can only charge tuition fees and term fees as approved by the parent teacher association/department of education. All other charges in the form of caution money, development charges, parents orientation fee, quarterly fee have been banned by the government,” said Srivastava.

The party sent photos and bills with the letter, but is yet to receive a response. “We take corruption seriously and if the school doesn’t respond, we will file an FIR,” said Srivastava.