Pvt schools rush to raise fees by Aug 15 deadline

Private schools in the city are using the one-month window to skirt the new fee hike policy and increase fees, before the state government resolution (GR) kicks in from August 15.

Private schools in the city are using the one-month window to skirt the new fee hike policy and increase fees, before the state government resolution (GR) kicks in from August 15.

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The new GR on the fee hike policy came out on July 15 and allows schools to increase fees once in three years, that too after approval from the Parent-Teachers Association. In the past 10 days, at least two city schools — St. Peters School in Mazagaon and St. Jude School in Kurla — have hiked their fees.

“Schools will use this window period to increase their fees,” said Jayant Jain, president of Forum for Fairness in Education, an NGO. “Schools will also move court to get a stay on the GR so the hiked fees will stay.”

While parents of students from St. Peters met on Sunday to protest the hike, parents of St. Jude met on Friday and decided not to pay the new hiked fees.

On July 20, the school issued a circular announcing a monthly rise of Rs 500, to make the fees Rs 1,850 a month.

At St. Jude School, parents had been told the monthly fee would increase from Rs 450 to Rs 650 in June, but last week, the school started pressing for the new fees.

Jain argued that schools should not increase fees once the academic year starts, as parents will have no option but to pay.