Parents in Mumbai participate in Thali Bajao protest against private schools charging exorbitant fees

Parents from various parts of the country protested against private schools for charging unjust fees from them, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Parents from various parts of the country protested against private schools for charging unjust fees from them, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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The ‘Thali Bajao’ protest was organised by a city-based NGO Forum for Fairness in Education (FFE) and saw the participation of parents from various parts of the country like Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Chennai, Ghaziabad, Delhi and Gujarat. As part of the protest, parents and children of private schools banged plates from their homes between 7am to 7.05am on Saturday.

“Through this protest, we hope that the state and the central government wake up and act against private schools which are not just charging hefty fees during these difficult times, but are also threatening to remove students if their parents protest the fee hikes. We demand that such parents get relief soon,” said Jayant Jain, president, FFE.

“Our school has not given any concession in fees even as online education continues for the last six months. On top of that, they have increased the overall fees and when we protested, we were not given any answers,” said the parent of a school in south Mumbai.

Parents of several schools in Mumbai had written to the state education department complaining against the indiscriminate fee hikes levied by schools. In September, the department also formed two panels and are now in the process of inspecting these schools. “We are in the process of checking the documents of these schools and if inadequacies are found, action will be taken against the said school,” said an official from the education department.

A government resolution released on May 8 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 on June 26 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.