CHENNAI: “Amma, please don’t create problems in front of the school. If you do anything, please do so peacefully. Otherwise, I will have to face harassment in the classroom.” These were the words that Devika heard from her child before she left home to participate in a quick protest in front of Kaligi Ranganathan Montford Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Perambur, where her daughter is studying in Class 11.About 500-odd parents attached to the Parents Students Welfare Association were deeply disturbed by alleged humiliation that their children undergo at the hands of teachers for not paying their fees. However, the parents are now determined to fight against the school management asking them to implement the revised fee structure suggested by the Raviraja Pandian Committee.“Because we refused to pay the hefty fee spelled out by the school management, they are humiliating our children through various methods like asking them to stand outside the class and scolding them in front of other students inside the classroom,” said the scores of parents, especially mothers, who had participated in the protest, wearing black badges and raising slogans against the management.The protestors drew the attention of parents who had come to drop their children off to the school. Some of the parents, who had come in their cars to drop their children off, stopped near the protesters and listened to their grievances patiently. “Our children get into mental turmoil. They cry at home asking us to pay the fees in order to escape harassment from the teachers,” said Ganesh, a parent.According to the Raviraja Pandian Committee, the prescribed fee structure for this school is as follows: Rs 3,300 for LKG and UKG; Rs 6,500 from Classes 1 to 5, Rs 9,700 for Classes 6 to 8; Rs 10,500 for Classes 9 and 10; Rs11,000 for Classes 11 and 12, said V Saravanan, president of the Association. But for LKG alone, the school is collecting Rs 14,000. “I have borrowed Rs 8,000 from my neighbour at a five per cent interest rate to pay the first installment of the fees for my son, who is admitted in LKG. The school authorities gave a bill for only Rs 3,000 and also informed me that I need to pay Rs 6,000 in two installments in the coming months,” said ND Karthik, who is working in a catering service centre. Karthik even produced the copy of the bill to substantiating his point.“The parents have to pay Rs 14,000 for Class 2, Rs 15,500 for Classes 3 and 5, Rs 17,000 for Class 7 and Rs 27,000 for Class 12 as annual fee. This apart, we need to pay between Rs 3,500 and Rs 5,000 for notebooks. The school does not distribute the books, which we need to buy outside,” said Ambika (50), who had pledged her gold jewellery to pay the school fees for her grandchildren.The school authorities tried several methods to create division among the association members. “The principal called me to his room and assured me a waive off the fee for both my children, who were studying Classes 6 and 8 in the school, but with the precondition that I should stop supporting the association,” said K Ravi, a parent.Saravanan, president of the association, said that when the Govindaran Committee announced the new fee structure, around 500 parents stopped paying fees for October and May in the previous academic year. “The school had already made us pay three times the fee structure recommended by the Govindarajan committee. We want them to adjust the excess against the fees for October and May,” he said. Instead, the school is demanding the parents to pay an arbitrary amount fixed by them, they added.
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