No solution in sight

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 25: Tension ran high at the DAV School in Chandrashekharpur today, as parents and teachers clashed over a recent fee hike.

Some 235 city-based English-medium schools recently raised tuition fees by 75 per cent thereby inviting parents’ resentment across the city.

School authorities, on the other hand, have blamed the hike on the Sixth Pay Commission that raised the remuneration for both teaching and non-teaching staff — thus “forcing” schools to raise their fee.

The Chandrashekharpur school plans to start the admission process with the revised fee structure from January 27.

Today in the morning, the parents reached the school for a monthly meeting where the issue was raised and met with much opposition. Arguments became so heated that the teachers and parents came to blows. The situation became normal only when the principal intervened.

“The situation is normal now. We have selected a few parents as representatives and we will be discussing the matter further,” said principal K.C. Sathpathy.

Two days ago, parents had also staged a dharna in front of BJEM School and had barred the entry of students and teachers into the campus.

Tired of the conflicts, school and mass education minister Sanjeev Kumar Sahoo at a high-level meeting held yesterday directed all schools to submit their reasons for the hike within 15 days. “Private schools cannot hike fees without consulting government and parents,” Sahoo said, adding that the authorities should follow a normative structure and the guidelines presented by the school and mass education department.

The department also issued a circular to private schools asking them to disburse the staff’s monthly salary through cheques or drafts to maintain transparency. A “no-objection certificate” of schools found violating the rules will henceforth stand cancelled, Sahoo has also warned.