New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) Parents of students of Salwan Public School in Mayur Vihar on Friday staged a protest outside the Directorate of Education, alleging that the institution has withheld the results of their wards over non-payment of what they termed “arbitrary” fee hikes.
Mohit Arora, a parent, said the school issued notices to more than 40 students, informing them that their names had been struck off the rolls due to non-payment of the increased fees.
“The school has neither released the students’ results nor responded to any applications or notices submitted by the parents,” Arora alleged.
However, school principal Richa Sharma Katyal denied the claims and said that no student had been barred from appearing in examinations, and that the results had been uploaded online.
“We have not issued physical copies of the results, but they have been uploaded on the website. Parents with unpaid dues from the previous academic year were notified that their wards’ names would be struck off the rolls for the next academic year,” she said.
The protesters carried placards reading “education is a right, not a business fight”, “Mehngi shiksha, mehnga gyaan, kaise banega desh mahaan”, and “Private schools’ arbitrariness, government’s failure”.
A protesting parent claimed the school was demanding increased fees beyond their financial capacity.
“I do not earn enough to afford such a steep fee hike. What option do I have? Should I withdraw my children and ask them to stay at home?” he asked.
The school had issued notices to around 40 parents on Wednesday, stating that students’ names would be removed from the rolls with effect from March 31 if the outstanding dues were not cleared.
The notice cited Rule 35 of the Delhi School Education Rules, 1973, which permits schools to strike off a student’s name in case of non-payment of fees.
It also said that unaided recognised private schools do not require prior approval from the Directorate of Education to fix fees for an academic year, referring to various court judgments. PTI SHB ARI
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