Private schools charging exorbitant fee under frivolous heads, parents worried

Neeraj Bagga

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Amritsar, February 28

English medium schools run by private firms and religious societies are charging exorbitant fee that too under various heads, compelling parents to shell out on frivolous things such as buying books of a particular publisher, frequently changing colour and design of uniforms and shoes among other things.

Sumeet Nagpal, a father of two school-going kids, said the laws available require parents to lodge complaints against erring schools. For this, no parent would come out, fearing for the future of their wards. These schools charge hefty fee. However, when it comes to disseminating quality education by hiring qualified staff as per the norms of the CBSE and the ICSE, they find shortcuts and hoodwink the authorities.

As per norms, they have to advertise the post of principals and teachers in newspapers. But they do not want to hire anybody and eventually close the case by forwarding the report that no eligible candidate was found.

MK Sharma, who had spearheaded the movement against unethical practices by private schools under the Punjab Parents’ Association, said commercialisation has deeply affected contemporary schooling, in which real educationists and academicians are relegated.

Parents are still disappointed as the Punjab Regulation of Fee Unaided Private Institutions Act, 2016, has not been implemented in the state so far. Taking advantage of the same, private schools in the state are still looting parents. “It was unfortunate as the Congress government abolished the clause from the Act under which no school was supposed to raise the fee beyond 8 per cent per annum.”

Manjit Kaur, mother of a pre-primary school-going kid, said: “There is no check on fee structure, hefty amount is being charged in the name of building, electricity and other funds. Every year as the new academic session begins, parents are being instructed to buy new uniforms, stationery and other items from a specific shop. Hapless parents, too, are reluctant in being vocal about the school managements.”

Kamalpreet Kaur, a mother, said the school administration replaces shoes, shirts, pants and jackets every year saying a minor modification has been made — say a new colour stripe. This adds unnecessary burden on parents. Though most of the schools did not hold any offline classes for nearly two years, they were freely charging building and electricity charges. On the other hand, expenses of parents had increased manifold. They had to procure mobile handsets, computers, laptops, foot electricity tariff for online classes at homes besides paying full monthly fee. She feared that many schools would hike monthly and annual fee from the next session, starting next month.