Parent slaps legal notice on Airoli school for Rs 1,500 additional fee

Airoli's Mazidun School

The parent of a Std X student studying in Airoli's Mazidun School has sent a legal notice to the authorities over Rs 1,500 extra fee that the institute is charging over and above the yearly fees of Rs 15,300 without giving a proper reason for it. Not only this, complainant Saiprakash Vishwakarma said some of the teachers threatened students that they would not issue the Std IX final results if the extra fee was not paid, and the authorities had also not issued receipts to those who have already made the payment. However, school principal Shabana Shaikh has denied charging any extra fee.

Speaking to mid-day, Vishwakarma said, "The school is charging Rs 1,500 from each of the 90 students in Std X. They have just termed it as extra fee and are not giving receipts to anyone. When asked the reason, they said it was for a special coaching class to be held for 12 days during the summer vacation. Even though the school remains open from June to March, we pay for April and May as well. Why are we expected to pay more?"

Students threatened

He added, "It is not about the amount. Teachers threatened many students that they would not be given the Std IX results if the extra fee was not paid. This is why several parents were forced to pay. But some of us stuck to our point. As absurd as it may sound, my son got his Std IX results in June when Std X classes had already started."

"I am fighting with the school management because it is charging money unlawfully. I have sent the legal notice to ensure that my child does not suffer over non-payment of additional fee," he said. Some of the other parents, who are against the additional fee, had gathered outside the school on Tuesday. "Initially I had refused to pay the extra fee, but later I got to know that many other parents had also not paid. Already the school forces us to buy notebooks from them at prices much higher than the market rate, and now they want us to pay additional fee," said Ratilal Kumawat, a parent.

Kusum Rajkumar, who has paid the fee fearing that her son would not get his results, said, "It is only now that we get to know that several other parents have not paid the extra fees. Their wards have got the results. We could have also fought against this."

'We never take action'

Meanwhile, school principal Shabana Shaikh denied charging any extra fee and said, "We cater to that class of society where parents are unable to pay the entire fee in advance. Most of them pay every month and some even pay whenever they can. Every year we have a backlog of thousands of rupees with several parents delaying fee payment. Yet we never take action. How can we force parents to pay extra fee?"

When asked about the legal notice, school trust representative, Arif Shaikh, said, "I will have to check with the school's main branch. However, these are just allegations leveled by a single parent, who has become a nuisance to the school. We are running this school since 1973 and catering to the lower middle class families in Digha locality of Airoli. Our fee structure has been prepared considering the target audience. Many are even given discounts considering their financial conditions."

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