Parents in panic as city school hikes fee for current academic year

Bengaluru: Covid-19 crisis has economically affected the people from all walks of life across the country. It has not spared either celebrities or common man. In spite of economic hardships being faced by people, some international schools in Bengaluru are reportedly increasing the fees for the 2021-22 academic year.

Ekya Schools is one among them which has sent a circular to the parents about its decision to hike fee by 5 percent. The school, located at BTM Layout here, is one of the top educational institutions which runs a chain of progressive K-12 schools under CMR Group of Institutions. Parents have already received deadlines to pay the fee for the next academic year. It is said that a CBSE school in the city has sent similar notice to the parents to pay the fee. The deadline for the payment of fee is set as short as 24 hours to two weeks from the time the circular is given. In the wake of this, a group of parents has urged State Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar and department of public instruction officials to intervene.

"The worst thing is that when there are no offline lessons, schools are resorting to collection of miscellaneous fees, besides hiking tuition fee and pressuring the parents to pay up immediately. Last year too they had increased fees but reversed the move after parents' protest. Ekya hasn't implemented Karnataka government's order that asked schools to collect only 70% of the fee. Despite the order, parents are being forced to pay the full fees. The worst thing is that they are asked to pay for even notebooks at a time when there are no physical classes."

The State government in exercise of its authority conferred by the Karnataka Education Act 1983, issued the order to schools to collect 70% if the fee under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.

"Getting hospital beds and oxygen concentrators for Covid patients is a herculean task. In this tense situation, private schools in Bengaluru have reportedly decided to increase the tuition fee for the academic year 2021-22. In addition to increasing the fee by 5%, schools have also set a payment deadline for the parents. So, we urge the government to intervene as it is difficult to bear the additional 5% hike in these hard times," Ekya School parents said.

The circular from the school which was shared with The Hans India by an aggrieved parent, says, "The pandemic last year impacted our lives in seen and unseen ways, encouraging us to innovate and adapt. At Ekya, we successfully launched and completed the AY 2020-21. This was possible through our staff, teachers, leadership members' hard work and dedication, and Jst and positivity from the student and parent community. As we start our preparations for the launch of the new academic year, our teachers and staff will be vaccinated as a measure to fight CoVID, facilitating the return of offline or blended schooling. e following are the fee and payment details for the Academic Year 2021-22.

The Hans India tried reaching the school management for its comments, but there was no response.

Some private schools in the city have withheld the exam results of students citing non-payment of fees for the previous academic year, rekindling the confrontation between parents and institutions.