Parents protest outside DAV Public School (Unit-VIII) in Bhubaneswar on Monday. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 9: A group of parents today demonstrated outside DAV Public School (Unit-VIII) here alleging that the school authorities were putting pressure on their wards to pay more fees as a precondition for taking the pre-board exams next month.

A stalemate between the school and parents over fee hike has been continuing since 2009-10 when the former enhanced tuition fees on the plea of implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission for the teaching and non-teaching staff. Orissa High Court has struck down the hike on two occasions and the matter is now pending before the Supreme Court. The next hearing is on January 21.

The school had issued a notice on November 6 saying that it was unable to pay salaries to the staff members. “The present crisis can be averted if the parents, in their wisdom and with magnanimity, come forward and contribute Rs 6,000 each as advance fees, which would be adjusted with their dues subject to the final decision of the Supreme Court,” read the notice. The last date for payment is December 16.

“The teachers are trying to divide the students by saying that most of them had paid the hiked tuition fees. They are also sending out subtle messages that defaulters would not be allowed to take the examinations,” said Kartik Sahoo, a parent.

Other parents questioned the school’s claim that it was staring at a revenue deficit of nearly Rs 2.65 crore for the 2012-13 academic year due to non-payment of fees at hiked rates. “The DAV schools run with our money but they have spent most of it to fight against us in the court of law,” convenor of All-Odisha DAVian Parents’ Coordination Committee Akshay Mahakud said.

Principal of DAV (Unit-VIII), Bhagyabati Nayak rejected the parents’ allegations and said they had merely made an appeal.

“The financial crisis has taken a serious turn since July 2012. The report of the fee structure committee is slated to be heard in court next month, but we have been paying salaries to staff members following the Sixth Pay Commission scales for the last 17 months,” she said, adding that the school has had to cut down on various expenditures.

“We have been forced to utilise the security deposit money of students, staff and contractors for payment of salary. Now, we are in an unfathomable financial distress and have asked for Rs 6,000 per student in advance. We will return every penny to the parents with interest if we lose the court case,” Nayak said.

The parents, however, have decided not to give in to the school’s request. “The remind us about the fees every time the examinations approach. We will not budge from our stand,” said a parent.