Parents accuse school of taking extra fees, donation

Stage snap protest on campus, take school head to task

Parents of students at the Bangalore Montessori School (BMS) staged a protest on the school campus on Monday, accusing the administration of charging extra fees and demanding donation.

They also took to task A M Lakshminarayana, Zilla Panchayat member and head of the institute, on the matter.

“Children of manual workers and from families belonging to economically backward and lower middle classes study in the school in large numbers. The parents of such students are being exploited by the school administration,” the protesters alleged.

Hike in fees

“Donation up to Rs 800 was collected last year for readmission. The administration also collected Rs 170 monthly. This year, however, the readmission fee has been hiked to Rs 8,000 to Rs 9,000.

Worse, the administration has started a practice of collecting Rs 15,000 as donation from students, who passed standard IX in this school and are being admitted to standard X,” the parents said with ire.

Parents unable to pay the amount prefer to return home without admitting their children to the school. This has only made continuation of education very difficult for girls belonging to Muslim communities that reside near the school.

The donation amount has been fixed as Rs 8,000 for standard VII and Rs 9,000 for standard I to IV. Parents admitting their children to lower kindergarten have to pay Rs 13,600 as fee.

The administration has not, however, given any explanation or justification for the high fees.

Argument

Lakshminarayana, who tried to pacify the parents, however, was taken to task and had to listen to their angry words.

He also tried to justify, saying the school was forced to collect the amount as it provided the kindergarten students uniforms, books and other study materials itself.
The parents, however, refused to accept the explanation.

“Why are we forced to purchase the materials from the school? Give us the list of textbooks and we will purchase them outside,” the parents insisted.
Lakshminarayana again made a futile attempt to explain that the uniforms and study materials had already been purchased.

The protesting parents also had a verbal tussle with him, opposing the sudden hike in donation from them, insisting they had never paid such high fees or donation. They also demanded that the donation and monthly fees be reduced immediately.

Complaint

The parents complained to the block education officer, demanding action against the school administration.

As many as 30 parents signed the memorandum submitted to the officer.