Seven-year-old Sanchita Sengupta (name changed) does her homework regularly but her teachers refuse to check what she has written; she diligently studies for her exams but is not allowed to sit for them.

“If I ask why I am being treated like this, the teachers scold me and force me to kneel down in front of the entire class,” a tearful Sanchita told Metro.

Sanchita is among 28 students of the Behala-based Meghmala Roy Education Centre caught in the crossfire between their parents and the school authorities over a fee hike meant to implement higher pay for teachers.

The battle began eight months ago with the parents of these 28 students — from KG-I to class VII — refusing to accept the hike in school fees from Rs 650 to Rs 1,070 with effect from April.

Neither side has since made any attempt to break the deadlock, leaving the students to face discrimination in school every day. The names of the 28 students at the centre of the crisis were struck off the rolls after their parents failed to submit the fees for three consecutive months.

But all of them unofficially remain students of the school because of an interim court order issued in October on a petition by the parents. The disgruntled parents had moved court seeking a directive to the school not to discriminate against their children.

Several other city schools had witnessed fee-hike protests by guardians through the year but this is the first known instance of parents taking the battle to court and their children being made to suffer the consequences.

Some of the parents, including those of Sanchita, are said to have offered to clear all dues at the rate of Rs 770 per month, but the school management turned them down.

The management argues that it cannot roll back or reduce the fee hike for 28 out of a total of 1,080 students. “If we do that, there will be anarchy. Other parents will also demand the same,” a school official said.

A source said the agitating parents were asked to meet the school authorities “individually” if they were facing “genuine financial constraints” but none did. “We had promised to consider such cases, as we have done for 10 students. But it seems the parents want to continue the agitation,” he said.

Dipankar Majumder, the secretary of the Meghmala Roy Education Centre Guardians’ Welfare Association, said the school authorities must first “justify” the 72 per cent hike. “I will pay the fees if the management proves that the hike is being used for the right purpose,” he added.

With final exams approaching, the stage is set for a bigger confrontation. “If they do not allow our children to sit for exams, we will make sure no one is able to write the papers,” Majumdar warned.

Parent Aftab Ali accused the school of “torturing our children just to prove a point”.

A senior official of the Catholic church, which runs the ICSE school, said the rule-book clearly stated that a student’s name would be struck off the rolls if his or her parent did not pay the fees for three months or more.

“We have retained all 28 students whose parents have not paid the fees for the minimum stipulated period because we don’t want them to quit the school. Their parents must understand the situation and try to settle the matter amicably,” he added.

But for Class V student Surojit (name changed), such assurances mean little. Unable to understand why his class teacher won’t let him go to the toilet sometimes, he can only cry.