<p>Students of the Kendriya Vidyalayas will be required to shell out a higher tuition fee from next year, with its board of governors giving in principle approval to a fee hike by over 100 per cent.<br /><br /></p>.<p>This was decided at a meeting of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan’s (KVS) board of governors, presided over by Human Resource Development Minister M M Pallam Raju, here on Friday.<br /><br />“We have given in principle approval to the proposal. It was important to strengthen the Kendriya Vidyalayas,” the HRD minister said here on the sidelines of a function. Raju, however, did not clarify the quantum of hike for students of class IX and above. The Kendriya Vidyalayas charge the students between Rs 3,600 and Rs 4,800 annually. <br /><br />According to sources, the proposal was to hike the fee to about Rs 12,000 per annum. The charges for the school development fund and computers will be hiked. The last fee hike was in 2009.<br /><br />An HRD Ministry official said the hike will not burden parents. The Kendriya Vidyalayas are meant for providing quality education to the children of government employees. Every government employee is entitled to a monthly reimbursement of Rs 1,250 per child, towards payment of fees.<br /><br />“Since the tuition fee and development fee together come to about Rs 500 for most students, an employee is unable to claim the entire entitlement,” he added.<br /><br />The move may affect children whose parents are employed in the private sector. However, Raju said “some mechanism will be devised” to ensure that students from the economically weaker sections and those whose parents are not government employees, are not affected by the hike. An HRD Ministry official said the hike was necessary to meet the rising expenses of the schools. <br /><br />The KVS spends about Rs 12,000 on every student for providing free textbooks, uniforms and other facilities. It spent about Rs 392 crore during 2011-12. An additional Rs 100 crore will be required in the next academic session to provide students with facilities like healthcare and sports equipment, besides construction work and setting up e-classrooms.</p>
<p>Students of the Kendriya Vidyalayas will be required to shell out a higher tuition fee from next year, with its board of governors giving in principle approval to a fee hike by over 100 per cent.<br /><br /></p>.<p>This was decided at a meeting of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan’s (KVS) board of governors, presided over by Human Resource Development Minister M M Pallam Raju, here on Friday.<br /><br />“We have given in principle approval to the proposal. It was important to strengthen the Kendriya Vidyalayas,” the HRD minister said here on the sidelines of a function. Raju, however, did not clarify the quantum of hike for students of class IX and above. The Kendriya Vidyalayas charge the students between Rs 3,600 and Rs 4,800 annually. <br /><br />According to sources, the proposal was to hike the fee to about Rs 12,000 per annum. The charges for the school development fund and computers will be hiked. The last fee hike was in 2009.<br /><br />An HRD Ministry official said the hike will not burden parents. The Kendriya Vidyalayas are meant for providing quality education to the children of government employees. Every government employee is entitled to a monthly reimbursement of Rs 1,250 per child, towards payment of fees.<br /><br />“Since the tuition fee and development fee together come to about Rs 500 for most students, an employee is unable to claim the entire entitlement,” he added.<br /><br />The move may affect children whose parents are employed in the private sector. However, Raju said “some mechanism will be devised” to ensure that students from the economically weaker sections and those whose parents are not government employees, are not affected by the hike. An HRD Ministry official said the hike was necessary to meet the rising expenses of the schools. <br /><br />The KVS spends about Rs 12,000 on every student for providing free textbooks, uniforms and other facilities. It spent about Rs 392 crore during 2011-12. An additional Rs 100 crore will be required in the next academic session to provide students with facilities like healthcare and sports equipment, besides construction work and setting up e-classrooms.</p>
