A breakthrough has been reached in the fee hike tussle at IEM Public School, but parents are pushing for some more.
IEM Public School has branches in Salt Lake’s GE Block, Sector V’s Ashram Building, and New Town near Biswa Bangla Gate. A few weeks ago, the management had introduced a new fee structure for the upcoming academic year but many parents felt the hike in fees was too steep.
Many of them gathered outside their respective schools, demanding the fees to be reduced. The issue was reported in The Telegraph Salt Lake last week in the article “Guardians protest school fee hike”. Over the past few days, however, the school has offered a revised fee for parents who approached them for it.
“Last year, I paid a total of Rs 44,000 for my son. This year, they had initially hiked the fees to Rs 62,000, but after the agitation, are now quoting Rs 50,000,” said the parent of a Class III student of the GE Block branch. “But students who choose to pay the lower fee will not get to avail of facilities like tae kwon do and roller skating that were available till last year. In that case, the fees should be even lower! If they offer fewer facilities than last year, how can the fees be hiked even a penny?”
The school’s admissions in-charge, Lovely De, confirmed that a reduced fee structure was being offered to parents who appealed to them. “We empathise with parents of these 142 students and are offering them what we can. We did not want to segregate the students, but their parents leave us no option. We want to provide the best of facilities, but they come at a cost,” said De, also clarifying that most parents have already paid the hiked fees that were announced in March.
The parents, meanwhile, have formed an umbrella body — IEMPS Preparatory Guardian Forum — and submitted a deputation to the school with a list of demands, including withdrawal of the fee hike and recognition of this body. “But the school isn’t ready to meet us to discuss the matter,” says the parent.
The school says they are ready to meet the parents, but on a one-to-one basis. “We had invited a parent representative to meet us on March 27, but he wanted to come with a group of parents. When our guard refused them entry into the premises they abused him,” said De. “This is simply a way of ganging up against the school.”