Parents in Bengaluru mark Gandhi Jayanthi by protesting, demanding fee determination committee

BENGALURU: Gandhi Jayanthi on Saturday saw several parents from 20 schools -- majorly from CBSE and ICSE --  gathering at the Gandhi statue at Murya Circle, unanimously demanding clarity on what they were paying for to Schools. 

They demanded schools to clearly define the heads of the school fees and the government to form a fee determination committee -- to create a democratic and transparent process for determining fees. They also protested against denial of access to education to students.

Myriad problems come with the lack of a fee determination committee, parents told The New Indian Express on Saturday, as they gathered under the aegis of Voice of Parents and Poshakara Samanvaya Vedike. The protest saw representatives of five organisations including RTE Students Parents Association (STUPA).

If we dont know what the tuition fees is, how are we expected to pay 85 per cent of it, said protesting parents.

"When other sectors have a cap on payments, why not education sector," asked a parent of an ICSE student.

General secretary of the RTE Students and Parents' Association (RTE Stupa), B N Yogananda, voiced the demands of the protesters and said the government should go for a second appeal over the high court order on 15 percent reduction of fees for the academic year 2020-21.

He added that confusion existed over fees to be paid in 2021-22 academic year -- is there a reduction, will it be applicable for the overall or tuition fees -- and hence the government should bring into existence a fee determination committee.

A parent of an ICSE student said it was his first protest in this regard and felt it necessary to step up for it. 

"There needs to be clear heads for fees -- under term fees, special development fees, tuition fees, as per the 1995 act, but schools are not providing the same. We cannot use the current fee receipt for claims under 80c, he said -- since only fees under 'tuition fees' are considered, and not headers such as 'academic fee' that the school provides. Meanwhile, a school seemed to have a new stratergy of discrimination over non payment offees -- a parent of class 10 student said that while online class access was provided, the previous years marks card, this year's notes were not shared with her ward. However parents who paid fees did not face this deprivation", she added.

A parent, Chaitra, from Samanvaya Samithi said that protesters were not met by representatives from the department.

A delegation is expected to meet chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday.