Maharashtra parents demand action over school fee issues, stage sit-in at Azad Maidan

Parents of several private schools across the state assembled outside Azad Maidan on Wednesday to protest against the state government’s inaction over their long-pending demands regarding private schools

Parents of several private schools across the state assembled outside Azad Maidan on Wednesday to protest against the state government’s inaction over their long-pending demands regarding private schools.

Parents’ associations from various parts of the state joined the protest at Azad Maidan.

Parents’ associations from various parts of the state joined the protest. “We are not going to move from here until we get a response from the government over our complaints. We want some firm decision and action from the authorities,” said Anubha Sahai, president of the Indiawide Parents Association.

Jayant Jain, president of Forum for Fairness In Education, which organised the protest, said the government was not concerned about the issues of parents. “Over the last several months, parents have been writing about issues concerning fee hikes and the indiscriminate fees charged by schools during the pandemic. Some students are also facing the brunt of this as schools are harassing them for non-payment or pending dues. This needs to be addressed immediately and we will not stop our protest until the government provides relief in the issue,” he added.

A parent from Navi Mumbai who attended the protest said that he had skipped work to fight against the injustice meted out against students. “Private schools are not listening to anyone. Even as we have faced salary cuts, schools continue charging us the same as before. Our complaints made to the state education department have also not been looked into,” he added.

Officials from the state education department denied commenting on the issue. State education minister Varsha Gaikwad did not respond to HT’s calls and messages.

Parents waited at Azad Maidan until late evening but neither the education minister nor officials from the department came to meet them. They then went to the minister’s residence but still could not meet her. The parents are now planning to meet on Monday and will hold a campaign on Twitter against the government’s inaction.

A government resolution (GR) released on May 8, 2020, stated that schools should stay all fee hikes for the current academic year and have to allow parents to pay fees in instalments. The GR was, however, stayed by the Bombay high court (HC) on June 26, 2020, in response to a petition by several organisations of private school owners. The petitioners had argued that the government cannot regulate fees of private schools as per the current rules.