Kochi: The Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir in Kochi has been accused of throwing out five students whose parents had questioned an ‘unreasonable’ fee hike. The five students ranging from classes 8 to 10 have alleged that they were forcibly issued Transfer Certificates by the school management.
The students in question alleged that they were locked inside the school library by teachers for failing to pay the hiked fees. They also alleged they heard their parents being verbally abused by the school staff.
The TCs accessed by News18, clearly show that the students were rusticated for 'non-payment of fees'. The parents are now moving for legal action against the management. One of the students who was removed is just out of Class 9 and has been unable to secure admission to Class 10 in any other school. Another child belongs to the OBC community.
“The school has violated the CBSE rule that the students should not be given transfer certificated without informing the parents,” alleged a parent adding that they are not ready to pay the increased fee. Rules stipulate that TC cannot be issued to students for non-payment of fees.
Parents say the school had arbitratrily hiked the fees for students by 20 percent in 2017, thereby prompting a protest from the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA). After the management refused to budge, the PTA approached the state child welfare commission which arbitrated a settlement. The agreement reached between the PTA and the school management, accessed by News18, shows it was agreed that the school would reduce the hiked fee by 10 per cent this year (2018), if the parents agreed to pay a hiked (20%) fee for 2017. However, parents say the school management did not reduce the fees this year, prompting them to stop paying fees.
The school principal, GG Rajelekshmy refused to comment but claimed that the decision was uniformly taken by the school management.
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