Fee issue: Parents protest against FRC

SURAT: Hundreds of parents of students studying in around 65 private schools in the city held a protest programme outside the office of Fee Regulation Committee (FRC) at Gandhi Engineering College to demand refund of excess fees charged by school managements on Tuesday.
Parents shouted slogans against the FRC and the District Education Office (DEO) for not taking action against private schools charging excess fees, despite the fees having been fixed by the FRC.
The parents demanded that the FRC and the DEO ensure that the private schools display posters at their school premises displaying the fee structure.
Parents’ association leader Bhavesh Sakariya told TOI, “Our main demand is that all schools that had charged excess fees should refund them to the parents. All schools should disclose the fee structure on display boards and their websites. But, hardly any schools have done it. Random fee hikes have been carried by some school in the last quarter. We want the FRC to take strict action and penalize the violators.”
“The FRC does not have executive powers to act against the schools. It is the DEO, who has all the powers to act, but he is not interested in taking action. We have received complaints from more than one parent in each of the 65 schools regarding random fee hikes,” he added.
Sources said a meeting has been scheduled on July 8 where parents’ association members, FRC members and the DEO will be discussing the fee hike and refund issues.
Rajesh Mehta, a parent, whose son is studying in third standard in one of the private schools, said, “The school fee was fixed at 16,500 per annum, but the school charged Rs23,500. Now, who is going to give me the refund of the excess fee charged by the school.”