Two months after parents of those studying at Ahmedabad International School (AIS) staged a protest saying the City District Education Officer (DEO) has not been taking their complaints against AIS and other Ahmedabad schools seriously, the DEO has now issued AIS a notice saying it should stop its Primary Years Programme (PYP) or ‘enrichment programme’ with immediate effect.
Read it all here: Pay Or Pay The Price! Parents Cry Foul Over AIS’s Coercive Fee Tactics
On June 7, the parents had reached out to Kuber Dindor, the minister for tribal development and education, to intervene. Subsequently, Dindor directed the Office of Schools’ Director to launch an investigation headed by the DEO and take appropriate action.
The PYP enrichment programme has been the major cause of heartburn – and pocket-burn – for the parents. Parents say that under the programme, the school introduced nine optional subjects and charged Rs. 1.35 lakh excluding GST per year per student.
Even as the DEO formed a three-member committee to look into the complaints regarding the enrichment programme, parents alleged, among other things, that the charges for the enrichment programme were higher than the entire year’s fees.
THE NOTICE
The DEO notice to the school said that levying GST was akin to commercial endeavour, which education institutes were not allowed to do so. The notice also took note of the fact that those students who do not opt for PYP programme were made to wait till the day’s activities were over.
District Education Officer Rohit Chaudhary said in the notice, “Schools cannot coerce any student into participating in such activities, and any GST collected must be refunded.” He said in the notice that any school facing similar allegations will face action.
AIS could be penalised or worse, its NOC could be revoked, officials in the Education Department said.
The school officials were not available for comment but for now, it seems the school has dug in its heels, as it has not yet revoked the PYP programme.
