PROTEST AGAINST FEE HIKE

Parents of students of Delhi Public School (DPS), Nerul, held a protest outside the school on Friday, to protest against what they termed arbitrary school fee hike by the management and alleged illegalities in formation of parent-teachers’ association (PTA). The Shiv Sena, which supported the parents, has warned of an agitation against the school. According to a parent, school principal JH Mohanty, who met the delegation of parents after several hours of persuasion by the police, said, “We will get back to them next week after consultation with the management.” He has also reportedly dismissed the old PTA. Despite several attempts, the management and the principal remained unavailable for comment. Geeta Chaudhary, a parent, said, “Earlier the school tried charging Rs25,000 extra for pre-nursery admission. They backed off after our protest. Now we are protest- ing against the fee hike of 17% to 20% for all classes. According to the state government norms, fees can be hiked only once in two years. The school had increased the fees last year and it plans to do so this year too. The PTA formed by the school too is in violation of the norms and done on ad hoc basis.” Shiv Sena’s Vijay Nahata and other party workers too reached the spot. “The management is adamant and is even refusing to meet the parents. We are aware of a number of violations by the school and we shall take them up with the authorities,” he alleged.

BACHCHAN KUMAR Parents of students studying in DPS school at Nerul protested against the fee hike, on Friday.