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Fee hike issue boils over, parents block GT Road for four hours
More than 500 parents protested against the school fee hike and blocked the Mohan Nagar GT Road national highway area for four hours on Friday morning.
More than 500 parents protested against the school fee hike and blocked the Mohan Nagar GT Road national highway area for four hours on Friday morning.
The traffic jam led to clashes between agitating parents and the police. Although the police cane-charged the parents, they could not be dispersed.
Later, the administration of DLF Public School and the Mohan Nagar police post incharge lodged a first information report (FIR) against 300 parents, naming 50 of them.
The protesters were all parents of students enrolled with elite schools like DLF Public School, Amity International, Khaitan Public School and DAV School.
The demonstration was called off only after Ghaziabad’s Senior Superintendent of Police, Akhil Kumar, and the City Magistrate, Umesh Mishr, reached DLF Public School with policemen and directed the school authorities to display a signed notice stating that fees would be charged at the old rates and no arrears would be recovered from parents.
“We are showing the balance figure, whether payable or receivable, in the fee slips and it will be adjusted later on. We are going to charge fees as per new rates May 16 onwards,” said Rakesh Khullar, Director, DLF Public School.
Khullar said the other points of dispute with parents would be settled after the May 15 meeting with the district administration.
Parents started the agitation claiming the school authorities had increased fees defying the district administration’s instruction to defer any hike till May 15.
Parents demanded action against the schools and also declared a poll boycott. Due to the blockade, the entire trans-Hindon area came to a standstill for over four hours.
During the protest, the parents raised slogans against the school authorities and displayed placards and banners and used loudspeakers for announcements.
Even senior citizens joined the protest. “DLF School has increased the fee and is showing the hiked fee as arrears in the fee-slips. This is against the administration’s orders. We want a decision on the issue today, not after the elections,” said a member of DLF Parents Federation.
When police resorted to a cane-charge, the women protesters lay down on the road, leaving the policemen puzzled. Thereafter, the agitating parents marched towards DLF Public School and led another agitation against the school authorities.
