Ghaziabad parents protest against private schools' fee hike

The parents of students studying in private schools here strongly protested at the district headquarters against the sudden fee hike and submitted a memorandum to the District Magistrate (DM).

Leading the protest, Bahujan Samaj Party leader Satyapal Chaudhary said that private schools are violating the terms of No Objection Certificate (NOC), which clearly states that the schools cannot charge building, annual, activity fee and other donations. If schools are found charging such type of fees, the NOC is liable to be null and void.

Saying that the schools are continuously flouting the NOC under the nose of the district administration, Chaudhary demanded that the terms and conditions of the NOC must be displayed in the premises of all schools in bold letters.

Meanwhile, All School Parents Association President Sachin Soni announced that he will be on a dharna outside the office of the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS) on April 17.

Soni alleged that district officials are ignoring the issue and are not initiating any action against schools despite clear intensions of the Uttar Pradesh government.

During the protest, police stopped parents from entering the DM's chamber which lead to a scuffle. After about half an hour, DM Nidhi Kesarwani asked the police to allow a five-member delegation.

During talks, the matter was resolved after a memorandum was submitted to Kesarwani in which the parents demanded to enforce the terms of NOC.

Meanwhile, parents started sitting on a dharma outside other public schools, including DPS Ghaziabad Vasundhara, Children's Academy and Sun Valley at Indirapuram, demanding to withdraw the inappropriately hiked fee.

--IANS

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