Gurgaon: Parents to step up protest against huge school fee hike on Sunday

The parents of the Blue Bells School have now decided to join members of the All India Parents’ Forum for Education who will hold a demonstration outside the divisional commissioner’s residence on Sunday

As many as 100 aggrieved parents of students of Blue Bells Model School, Sector 4, staged a protest outside the campus on Saturday against the hike in annual development charges and fees.

Parents and students of the Blue Bells Model School in Gurgaon’s Sector 4 held a protest on Saturday against the fee hike. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

The parents have already moved the education department and administration against what they claim is an arbitrary hike in fees by private schools every year.

Stepping up heat on the school authorities, the parents have now decided to join members of the All India Parents’ Forum for Education who will hold a demonstration outside the divisional commissioner’s residence on Sunday. The same is part of the Forum’s effort to intensify their protest against the school fee hike.

However, the school’s management refuted the charge of an arbitrary hike in fees in saying they have to revise the charges from time to time to fund the development initiatives on campus.

“Our school was founded 35 years ago and one has to make changes and fund newer initiatives in keeping with the times. While other schools only have computer laboratories, we recently set up mathematics and language laboratories. A lot of developments are taking place every year and we need to revise the fees to pursue our goals,” Suman Gulati, director, Blue Bells group of schools, said.

She said the school will revise the salaries of its faculty and staff this month in accordance with recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission.

Amit Vashist, one of the aggrieved parents, said, “There is a fee hike every year and the school also keeps increasing the development charges. However, there’s been no significant improvement in infrastructure or the facilities currently in place for the students. There is no lift in the school building and neither there are air conditioners in classes. So what development are they charging us for?”

Rupesh Arora, another parent, said, “The tution fee hike is nearly 30%. This is unreasonable. While the general printing charge of ₹3,750 is levied quarterly, the parents have to get all printouts by themselves.”