Parents peeved with the arbitrary 40% hike of annual fees by Nirma Vidyavihar School without consent of the school fees regulatory committee (FRC), recently took up the matter with the Ahmedabad city district education officer (DEO).
On Monday, the school found itself at the receiving end of a show-cause notice issued by the DEO.
According to the parents committee, the FRC had fixed the school’s annual fees at Rs 89,000 for 2022-23. However, without any notice, a circular was issued informing parents of an increase to Rs 1.24 lakh onwards session 2023-24. Under the FRC rules, a school can increase its fees by a maximum 5% at one go.
Meanwhile, the FRC has started the process of accepting fees increase applications from private schools for 2023-24 but has not yet approved any such bid. Insiders shared that the FRC is taking longer than usual because the “chairman’s post is lying vacant.”
“The school has applied for a hike in annual fees but the matter is yet to be approved. However, the school management has already started demanding higher fees. In fact, some parents have even paid up the revised fees for the first quarter. Based on complaints from parents, we issued a show-cause notice to Nirma Vidyavihar School in Bodakdev. The school administration has been asked to respond within the next two days,” stated R.M. Chaudhari, Ahmedabad city DEO.
When asked for their side of the story, a statement was issued by the school, stating: “The school has raised fees only by 5% in accordance with the FRC order. The additional amount is term fees, in compliance with the FRC Act. In the past, Nirma Vidyavihar has neither collected term fees nor any admission fees, though permitted by FRC. Necessary information has been circulated to all parents via the school app.”
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